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THE  BIBLE  FOR  HOME  AND  SCHOOL 
SHAILER  MATHEWS,  General  Editor 

PROFESSOR  OF  HISTORICAL  AND  COMPARATIVE  THEOLOGY 
THE   UNIVE8SITY   OF  CHICAGO 


ACTS 
GEORGE  HOLLEY  GILBERT 


THE  BIBLE    FOR 

HOME    AND    SCHOOL 

SHAILER   MATHEWS,  General  Editor 

VOLUMES  IN  PREPARATION 

GENESIS 

By  Professor  H 

G.  Mitchell 

I  SAMUEL 

By  Professor  L. 

W.  Batten 

PSALMS 

By  Reverend  J. 

P.  Peters 

ISAIAH 

By  Professor  John  E.  McFadyen 

AMOS,   HOSEA,  AND   MICAH 

By  Professor  J. 

M.  P.  Smith 

JOHN 

By  Professor  Shailer  Mathews                       | 

ACTS 

By  Professor  George  H.  Gilbert                     | 

ROMANS 

By  Professor  E. 

I.  Bosworth 

GALATIANS 

By  Professor  B. 

W.  Bacon 

EPHESIANS,  COLOSSIANS,  AND  PHILEMON 

By  Reverend  Gross  Alexander 

HEBREWS 

By  P^ioFESsoR  E. 

J.   GOODSPEED 

THE  BIBLE  FOR  HOME  AND  SCHOOL 

-B.'lsle.  Al.T.  ACTS     ■^^]^'^^ 
THE  SECOND  VOLUME  OF  LUKE'S  WORK 

ON    THE 

BEGINNINGS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

WITH   INTERPRETATIVE  COMMENT 

BY 
GEORGE  HOLLEY  GILBERT,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 
1908 

All  rights  reserved 


GENERAL 


Copyright,  1908, 
By  the  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  December,  190S. 


Norinaob  i^tess 

J.  8.  Gushing  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 

Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


GENERAL   INTRODUCTION 

The  Bible  for  Home  and  School  is  intended  to  place 
the  results  of  the  best  modern  biblical  scholarship  at  the 
disposal  of  the  general  reader.  It  does  not  seek  to  dupli- 
cate other  commentaries  to  which  the  student  must  turn. 
Its  chief  characteristics  are  (a)  its  rigid  exclusion  of  all 
processes^  both  critical  and  exegetical,  from  its  notes; 
(3)  its  presupposition  and  its  use  of  the  assured  results 
of  historical  investigation  and  criticism  wherever  such 
results  throw  light  on  the  biblical  text;  {c)  its  running 
analysis  both  in  text  and  comment ;  {d)  its  brief  explana- 
tory notes  adapted  to  the  rapid  reader ;  {e)  its  thorough 
but  brief  Introductions  ;  (/)  its  use  of  the  Revised  Version 
of  1 88 1,  supplemented  with  all  important  renderings  in 
other  versions. 

Biblical  science  has  progressed  rapidly  during  the  past 
few  years,  but  the  reader  still  lacks  a  brief,  comprehensive 
commentary  that  shall  extend  to  him  in  usable  form  mate- 
rial now  at  the  disposition  of  the  student.  It  is  hoped 
that  in  this  series  the  needs  of  intelligent  Sunday  School 
teachers  have  been  met,  as  well  as  those  of  clergymen 
and  lay  readers,  and  that  in  scope,  purpose,  and  loyalty 
to  the  Scriptures  as  a  foundation  of  Christian  thought  and 
life,  its  volumes  will  stimulate  the  intelligent  use  of  the 
Bible  in  the  home  and  the  school. 

SHAILER   MATHEWS. 


18069^ 


CONTENTS 

PAGB 

Introduction i 

Text  and  Interpretation    .        .        .        .        .        •  23 

Notes 259 

Index 263 


vii 


ACTS 
Bv  GEORGE  HOLLEY  GILBERT 


U  N  I  V  E  R  S  . 

OF  J 

INTRODUCTION 
I.  The  Book  in  Itself 

The  writer  of  this  book  regarded  it  as  belonging  to  the 
same  literary  class  with  an  earlier  production  (the  third 
Gospel),  dedicated  to  the  same  person,  and  he  referred  to 
it  as  a  /  narrative,'  —  the  designation  frequently  given  by 
Herodotus  to  his  historical  work.  The  simpler  of  the  two 
best-authenticated  Greek  titles  of  the  book,  viz.  '  Acts  '  (not 
The  Acts,  as  though  recording  all  of  them),  whether  given 
to  it  by  the  author,  or,  as  was  doubtless  the  case,  given  by 
some  one  else,  is  altogether  fitting,  for  the  narrative  is 
indeed  a  succession  of  worthy  acts,  a  story  of  some  of  the 
heroic  deeds  of  the  first  Christian  generation.  It  does  not 
profess  to  be  a  complete  history  of  that  generation,  or  even 
of  the  two  men  who  are  most  prominent  in  its  pages.  It 
leaves  broad  spaces  in  the  career  of  Peter  and  Paul  un- 
touched. As  Httle  does  it  seek  to  give  a  detailed  account 
of  the  rise  or  the  organization  and  life  of  any  one  of  the 
great  churches  to  which  it  refers,  as  those  at  Jerusalem, 
Antioch,  Ephesus,  Corinth,  and  Rome. 

Though  the  longest  of  the  New  Testament  writings, 
Acts  is  exceedingly  brief  when  one  has  regard  to  the  extent 
and  the  importance  of  the  material  with  which  it  deals. 
Within  the  compass  of  about  eighty  pages,  ordinary  octavo, 
or  forty  pages  of  one  of  our  current  magazines,^  it  gives  a 
sketch  of  the  progress  of  Christianity  from  its  rise  in  Jeru- 
salem shortly  after  the  death  of  Jesus  until  it  was  firmly 
established  in  the  world's  metropolis  some  thirty  years  later. 
This  sketch  includes  the  most  critical  moments  in  the  early 
history  of  the  new  religion,  and  in  its  unfolding  we  are 

*  Acta  has  about  25,000  words,  approximately  the  same  as  the  first  five  books  of 
Vergil.    According  to  Graux  Acts  contains  94,000  letters,  and  Luke's  Gospel  97.7i4» 


INTRODUCTION 


brought  into  personal  contact  with  the  leading  men  of  the 
Church  and  of  Judaism,  also  with  those  of  the  Roman  State 
who  promoted  or  hindered  the  development  of  Christianity. 
Of  Peter  we  have  eighteen  speeches  (if  we  count  those  which 
have  as  few  as  two  verses),  and  of  Paul  thirty,  delivered  in 
the  most  widely  diverse  situations.  There  are  four  utter- 
ances of  the  apostles  as  a  whole,  there  are  living  portraits 
of  the  first  martyr  and  the  first  evangelist,  and  a  letter  from 
the  mother  church  regarding  the  first  subject  of  serious 
controversy  between  Christians.  Among  the  representa- 
tives of  Judaism  we  meet  Gamaliel  the  most  distinguished 
rabbi  of  the  day,  Herod  Agrippa  I,  and  Agrippa  II  with  his 
two  sisters  Bernice  and  Drusilla;  we  meet  also  two  high- 
priests  together  with  various  rulers  and  officers  of  the  temple, 
as  well  as  the  rank  and  file  of  the  people.  Of  the  Graeco- 
Roman  world  that  came  into  contact  with  the  new  faith 
either  officially  or  in  the  way  of  personal  interest  we  are  made 
acquainted,  among  others,  with  two  centurions,  with  the 
praetors  of  PhiUppi,  the  proconsul  of  Achaia,  the  town-clerk 
of  Ephesus,  the  captain  of  the  Antonia  garrison,  with  two 
successive  governors  of  the  province  of  Judea,  with  two 
Roman  emperors,  with  Stoic  and  Epicurean  philosophers, 
with  magicians  of  Samaria,  Cyprus,  and  Ephesus,  with  the 
barbarians  of  Lycaonia  and  Malta. 

In  this  sketch  of  the  early  history  of  Christianity,  which 
consists  of  nine  hundred  and  eighty-seven  verses,  no  less 
than  three  hundred  and  sixty-nine  verses  are  ostensibly 
quotations  from  living  persons,  this  count  not  including 
quotations  of  less  than  two  verses  in  extent.  If  we  regard 
even  shorter  quotations,  we  find  that  the  pages  of  Acts 
introduce  twenty-six  speakers,  and  twelve  more  or  less  in- 
definite groups,  of  which  three  are  Christian  and  nine  non- 
Christian.  These  figures  do  not  cover  the  utterances  of 
angels  or  of  others  who  speak  in  visions  and  dreams,  neither 
do  they  include  certain  quite  unimportant  speakers  like 
Sapphira. 

Thus  it  appears  that  our  book  of  Deeds  is  in  point  of 


INTRODUCTION 


variety  and  dramatic  interest  akin  to  the  writings  of 
Herodotus,  while  in  the  importance  of  its  material  for  our 
knowledge  of  the  rise  of  Christianity,  if  that  material  is 
found  trustworthy,  it  is  second  only  to  the  synoptic  Gospels. 

As  to  the  structure  of  Acts  little  need  be  said.  It  is  an 
unbroken  story  from  beginning  to  end.  It  is  not  divided 
into  four  parts,  or  three,  or  two.  It  is  not  divided  on  a 
national,  geographical,  or  apostolic  basis.  It  does  not 
treat  first  of  Christianity  among  the  Jews  and  then  among 
the  Gentiles  :  both  spheres  are  more  or  less  constantly 
blended.  It  does  not  treat  of  the  spread  of  Christianity 
as  originating  in  Jerusalem,  mediated  through  Antioch, 
and  extended  to  Rome,  as  though  the  author  consciously 
ordered  and  arranged  his  materials  according  to  these  three 
points.  The  part  which  Jerusalem  plays  cannot  be  assigned 
to  any  particular  section  of  the  book.  Its  influence  extends 
from  the  first  page  to  the  last.  Again,  the  words  ascribed 
to  Jesus  in  I  :  8  cannot  be  regarded  as  suggesting  the  au- 
thor's definite  outline  for  his  book.  For  though  he  begins 
with  the  work  in  Jerusalem,  he  nowhere  speaks  of  the  evan- 
gelization of  Judea.  Peter's  tour  to  Lydda  and  Joppa  was 
pastoral  in  its  nature,  not  a  tour  of  evangelization.  More- 
over, if  Jesus  can  be  supposed  to  have  marked  out  for  his 
disciples  the  geographical  order  of  their  work,  —  which 
seems  altogether  improbable,  —  still  it  is  not  likely  that  he 
would  have  mentioned  Judea  and  have  omitted  Galilee,  as 
is  done  in  i  :  8.  Finally,  though  Acts  is,  roughly  speaking, 
divided  into  two  parts,  the  first  being  given  to  Peter  and  the 
second  to  Paul,  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  author 
was  consciously  influenced  by  such  a  principle  of  division. 
Peter  is  prominent  in  the  first  chapters  of  Acts  because  his 
chief  work  preceded  Paul's  in  time,  but  the  activity  of  both 
apostles  overlaps  in  the  central  part  of  the  book. 

The  aim  of  the  author  in  this  book  of  Deeds  is  stated  by 
him  at  the  beginning  of  the  first  volume  of  his  work,  where, 
in  the  dedication  to  Theophilus,  he  says  :  ''that  thou  might- 
est  know  the  certainty  concerning  the  things  wherein  thou 

3 


INTRODUCTION 


wast  instructed."  This  was  the  purpose  of  both  volumes  of 
his  history.  He  wished  to  acquaint  Theophilus  with  what 
Jesus  did  and  taught,  and  also  with  that  which  the  Spirit 
of  God  wrought  through  those  who,  in  the  name  of  Jesus, 
preached  his  gospel  and  extended  his  kingdom.  This 
aim,  as  far  as  Acts  is  concerned,  was  accompHshed  by  telling 
the  story  of  the  early  church  in  Jerusalem  from  Pentecost 
to  the  first  great  persecution,  and  then  by  the  story  of  the 
Gentile  church  as  far  as  that  was  bound  up  with  the  labors 
of  Paul  from  his  first  Christian  sermon  in  Damascus  until 
the  end  of  his  two  years'  imprisonment  in  Rome.  In  the 
first  part  of  the  story  the  hostility  of  Judaism  toward  Chris- 
tianity is  prominent,  while  in  the  second  part  no  less  prom- 
inence is  given  to  the  fact  that  the  Roman  authorities  found 
no  cause  of  death  in  the  leader  of  the  Christian  move- 
ment. 

For  practical  purposes  the  story  of  Acts  may  be  analyzed 
as  follows  : 

1.  The  Church  in  Jerusalem  (i  :  i-8  :  3). 

2.  Beginnings  of  the  World-wide  Mission  (8  :  4-12  :  25). 

3.  The  Church  established  in  Asia  Minor  and  Europe 
(13  :  1-20  :  3). 

4.  Paul  in  bonds  :    Jerusalem,  Caesarea,  Rome  (20  : 4- 
28:31). 

I.    The  Church  in  Jerusalem. 
I  :  1-14.  Introduction. 

1  :  15-26.        The  appointment  of  Matthias. 

2  :  1-4 1.  Pentecost. 

2  :  42-47.        Internal  state  of  the  earliest   Christian 

community. 

3  :  1-26.         Peter's  first  sign  and  the  address  it  oc- 

casioned. 

4  :  1-3 1.         Arrest  and  release  of  the  apostles. 

4  •  32-37.        Fellowship  among  the  early  Christians. 

5  :  i-ii.  Ananias  and  Sapphira. 

5  :  12-16.        Signs  of  the  apostles ;  growth  of  the  Chris- 
tian community. 
4 


INTRODUCTION 


5  : 17-42. 

Arrest,   punishment,  and  release  of   the 

apostles. 

6  :  1-7. 

The  Seven. 

6 : 8-15. 

Stephen's   work    and   the   opposition   it 

aroused. 

7  :  1-53- 

Stephen's  defence. 

7  :  54-8  :  la. 

Stephen's  martyrdom. 

2.    Beginnings 

of  the  World-wide  Mission. 

8  :  ib-3. 

The  great  persecution. 

8  :  4-25. 

Philip  and  the  Samaritan  work. 

8  : 26-40. 

Philip  and  the  Ethiopian. 

9  :  i-iga. 

The  conversion  of  Paul. 

9  :  i9b-25. 

Paul  in  Damascus. 

9 : 26-31. 

Paul's  return  to   Jerusalem  and  depar- 

ture to  Tarsus. 

9 : 32-43- 

Peter  in  Lydda  and  Joppa. 

10. 

The  conversion  of  Cornehus. 

II  :  1-18. 

Peter's  defence  of  his  Caesarean  mission. 

II  : 19-26. 

Founding  of  the  Church  at  Antioch. 

II  : 27-30. 

Mission  of  Barnabas  and  Paul  to  Jeru- 

salem. 

12  :  1-19. 

Persecution  of  Christians  by  Herod. 

12  :  20-24. 

Herod's  death. 

12:25. 

Return  of  Barnabas  and  Paul  to  Antioch. 

3.    The  Church  established  in  Asia  Minor  and  Europe. 
13  :  1-3.  Barnabas   and  Paul  set  apart  for  the 

Gentile  mission. 
13  :  4-12.  The  work  in  Cyprus. 

13  :  13-52.        The  work  in  Antioch  of  Pisidia. 

14  :  i-6a.  The  work  in  Iconium. 

14  :  6b-2ia.      The  work  in  Lystra  and  Derbe. 

14  :  2ib-28.      The  return  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  to 

Antioch. 

15  :  40-16  :  5.  Paul    revisits    his    churches    in    Syria, 

Cilicia,  and  central  Asia  Minor. 
5 


INTRODUCTION 


i6:  6-IO.  Paul  seeks  new  fields. 

i6: 11-40.  The  work  in  Philippi. 

17: 1-9.  The  work  in  Thessalonica. 

17 :  10-14.  The  work  in  Beroea. 

17: 15-34.  Paul  in  Athens. 

18 :  i-i8a.  The  work  in  Corinth. 

18:  i8b-22.  From  Corinth  to  Antioch. 

18:23.  VsLul  revisits  the  churches  of  central  Asia 

Minor  on  his  way  to  Ephesus. 

18 :  24-28.  Forerunners  of  Paul  in  Ephesus. 

19 : 1 -41.  The  work  in  Ephesus. 

20: 1-3.  The  European  churches  revisited. 

4.   Paul  in  bonds:  Jerusalem,  Caesarea,  Rome. 

20: 4-21 :  16.  The  journey  from  Corinth  to  Jerusalem. 

21 :  17-26.  Circumstances  which  led  to  Paul's  arrest. 

21:27-40.  Assaulted  by  the  Jews,  taken  into  custody 

by  the  Romans. 

22 : 1-2 1.  Paul's  address  from  the  castle  stairs. 

22 :  22-29.  -P^^l  ^^  ^^^  Antonia  barracks. 
22 :  30-23 : 1 1.     Paul  before  the  Sanhedrin. 

23 :  12-35.  Paul  sent  to  Caesarea. 

24: 1-2 1.  The  hearing  before  Felix. 

24:  22-27.  Paul  a  prisoner  in  Caesarea. 

25:1-12.  The  hearing  before  Festus  and  the  appeal 

to  Caesar. 

25 :  13-27.  Introductory  to  the  defence  before  Agrippa. 

26.  Paul  before  Agrippa. 

27 : 1-28 :  16.  The  journey  from  Caesarea  to  Rome. 

28:17-31.  Paul  in  Rome. 


II.   Author  and  Date  of  Composition 

Here  we  have  to  do  with  probabilities,  not  with  cer- 
tainties. Acts  is  an  anonymous  production,  and  no 
writing  mentions  Luke  as  its  author  until  we  reach  the 

6 


INTRODUCTION 


Muratorian  Canon,  about  175  a.d.  Yet  the  probabilities 
in  this  case  are  of  no  ordinary  sort,  and  are  worthy  of 
careful  study. 

The  tradition  of  the  Roman  church  which  we  have  in 
the  Muratorian  Canon,  that  Luke  was  the  author  of  Acts, 
is  supported  by  the  following  argument.  Embedded  in 
Acts,  beginning  at  16  :  10,  there  are,  as  commonly  counted, 
four  passages  which  appear  to  have  been  taken  from  some 
one's  diary.  These  passages  are  in  the  first  person  plural, 
and  this  plural  includes  Paul  except  in  20 :  13-14,  where 
the  anonymous  diarist  went  by  ship  while  Paul  went  by 
land.  The  diarial  character  of  these  sections  of  Acts  is 
clearly  stamped  upon  them.  They  give  minute  details 
of  place,  time,  and  direction.  Thus,  e.g.,  they  contain  some 
twenty-four  geographical  terms,  chiefly  names  of  towns, 
that  are  not  found  elsewhere  in  the  New  Testament,  and 
they  note,  as  a  rule,  the  length  of  the  journey  from  one  place 
to  another,  with  details  regarding  the  winds  and  the  length 
of  the  various  stops.  They  are  marked  also  by  other  touches 
which,  though  natural  for  a  diarist,  are  of  no  special  signifi- 
cance for  the  historian  of  the  early  Church.  Thus  we  read 
that  the  travellers  having  set  out  fromTroas  made  a  'straight 
course'  to  Samothrace  (16  :  11);  that  on  the  return  journey 
they  were  five  days  from  Philippi  to  Troas  (20  :  6) ;  that 
they  changed  ships  at  Patara  (21  :  1-2);  and  that,  on  the 
voyage  to  Rome,  they  sailed  under  the  lee  of  Cyprus  because 
of  contrary  winds  (27  :  4).  These  and  a  multitude  of  similar 
items  indicate  plainly  that  we  have  to  do  here  with  quotations 
from  the  journal  of  some  companion  of  Paul,  a  fact  that 
gives  to  these  sections  of  Acts  an  altogether  unique  value 
among  the  sources  of  the  New  Testament. 

It  is  not  quite  clear  how  much  of  our  text  is  to  be  regarded 
as  taken  from  this  diary.  Chapter  16  :  10-18  is  in  the 
first  person.  It  describes  the  journey  from  Troas  to  Phi- 
lippi, and  the  work  at  the  latter  place  as  far  as  the  arrest  of 
Paul.  But  verses  19-40,  which  concern  other  events  in 
Philippi,  though  written  in  the  third  person,  may  well  have 

7 


INTRODUCTION 


been  a  part  of  the  diary.  The  unknown  writer  was  there 
on  the  ground,  and  this  part  of  the  chapter  contains  many 
minute  details,  as  we  should  expect  if  it  was  written  by  the 
author  of  verses  10-18.  But  when  Paul  left  PhiHppi,  the 
unknown  author  of  the  diary  appears  to  have  remained 
behind.  Some  five  or  six  years  later,  when  Paul  again 
passed  through  Philippi  on  his  way  to  Jerusalem  with  the 
contributions  of  the  Gentile  churches,  he  was  joined  at  this 
place  once  more  by  the  diarist.  The  narrative  resumes  the 
first  person  at  20  :  5  and  continues  thus  through  20  :  15. 
But  it  is  impossible  to  separate  verse  16  of  this  chapter  from 
the  preceding  verse,  and  no  reason  is  apparent  why  verses 
17,  36-38  should  be  denied  to  the  diarist.  The  first  person 
does  not  appear  simply  because  the  actions  described  con- 
cerned no  one  but  Paul.  As  for  the  speech  of  Paul  to  the 
Ephesian  elders,  the  diary  may  have  had  notes  of  it  on  which 
our  text  is  based.  If  it  was  like  Paul  to  desire  to  see  the 
old  friends  in  Ephesus  again,  it  was  like  him  also  to  speak 
to  them  as  he  is  here  represented  to  have  done.  The  speech 
is  permeated  with  his  spirit.  Verse  25,  which  declares  that 
his  friends  will  see  him  no  more  and  which  has  sometimes 
been  regarded  as  showing  the  late  origin  of  the  speech,  is 
nothing  more  than  a  natural  inference  from  the  facts  men- 
tioned in  verse  23,  and  the  prophetic  words  of  verse  29  had 
ample  basis  in  the  long  and  bitter  experience  of  the  apostle. 
With  chapter  21,  where  the  journey  is  resumed,  the  first 
person  reappears  in  the  narrative  and  continues  through 
verse  18.  But  if  the  diarist  went  in  with  Paul  to  James, 
as  this  verse  records,  it  would  be  singular  if  he  had  nothing 
to  say  concerning  what  transpired  at  the  meeting.  More- 
over the  events  of  the  next  seven  days  (21  :  27-40;  22  :  22- 
29;  22  :  30-23  :  10;  23  :  11-25,  31-35)  are  recorded  with 
the  vividness  of  first-hand  knowledge,  and  we  know  of  no 
one  to  whom  these  passages  can  be  more  appropriately 
ascribed  than  to  the  diarist.  In  Hke  manner  the  incidents 
belonging  to  the  two  years  spent  in  Caesarea  (c.  24-26), 
where,  according  to  27  :  i,  the  diarist  was  at  the  end  of  that 

8 


INTRODUCTION 


time,  should  be  regarded  as  a  part  of  his  narrative.  He 
was  with  Paul  at  the  time  of  his  arrest,  with  him  also  when 
he  set  out  from  Caesarea  for  Rome,  and  there  is  no  evidence 
whatever  that  he  was  not  with  him  or  near  him  during  the 
interval  between  these  events.  He  did  not  make  the  jour- 
ney with  him  from  Jerusalem  to  Caesarea  (23  :  31-33), 
for  in  that  case  he  would  have  used  the  first  person  plural 
as  elsewhere  in  the  accounts  of  his  travels  with  Paul,  but 
he  appears  to  have  followed  him  within  five  days  (24  :  i). 
The  events  of  Paul's  Caesarean  imprisonment  and  trials 
are  described  with  the  circumstantiahty  of  an  eye-witness 
(see,  e.g.,  24  :  10;  25  :  7,  12;  26  :  i,  24,  29),  but  as  the  eye- 
witness was  neither  imprisoned  nor  on  trial  with  Paul,  he 
had  no  occasion  to  write  in  the  first  person. 

It  appears,  then,  that  we  have  good  reason  to  include  in 
the  diary  not  only  the  four  passages  that  are  in  the  first 
person,  but  also  the  intervening  sections  concerning  events 
at  Miletus,  Jerusalem,  and  Caesarea,  though  the  speeches 
of  these  sections  may  have  assumed  their  present  form  later 
than  the  composition  of  the  diary. 

Now  in  our  search  after  the  author  of  Acts  we  have  to 
inquire  who  wrote  this  oldest  Christian  diary  which  is  em- 
bedded in  Acts.  Plainly  it  was  some  companion  of  Paul 
who  was  with  him  on  the  second  missionary  journey  from 
Troas  to  Philippi;  who  rejoined  him  at  this  place  on  the 
journey  from  Corinth  to  Jerusalem;  and  who  made  with 
him  the  voyage  from  Caesarea  to  Rome.  Silas  and  Timothy 
were  with  Paul  on  the  second  missionary  journey  (15  :  40; 
16  :  3),  but  neither  of  them  stopped  at  Philippi  (17  :  10,  15), 
and  Timothy  at  least  did  not  rejoin  Paul  there  on  his  way 
to  Jerusalem  (20  :  4) .  Moreover,  since  Silas  journeyed  with 
Paul  from  Antioch,  we  should  expect  his  diary,  had  he  kept 
one,  to  have  begun  there  and  not  first  at  Troas.  He  is  also 
excluded  from  consideration  by  the  fact  that  Paul's  letters 
nowhere  mention  him  as  having  been  at  Rome.  No  other 
name  is  suggested  by  Acts  which  can  be  thought  of  as  pos- 
sibly that  of  the  author  of  the  diary. 

9 


INTRODUCTION 


We  turn  then  to  the  letters  which  Paul  wrote  while  a 
prisoner  at  Rome.  As  the  diarist  went  with  him  to  the 
western  metropolis  and  was  therefore,  presumably,  one  of 
his  most  devoted  friends  and  helpers,  it  is  natural  to  expect 
that  his  name  may  be  found  in  the  apostle's  letters.  Now 
both  Colossians  and  Philemon  mention  the  Macedonian 
Aristarchus,  who,  we  know  from  Acts  27  :  2,  went  with 
Paul  from  Caesarea  to  Rome;  but  this  same  verse  in  Acts 
distinguishes  Aristarchus  from  the  diarist.  Of  the  others 
who  are  mentioned  in  the  Roman  letters,  Timothy  has  al- 
ready been  considered.  Tychicus  the  'beloved  brother' 
(Col.  4  :  7)  appears  to  have  been  a  fruit  of  Paul's  missionary 
work  in  Ephesus  (Acts  20  : 4),  and  therefore  cannot  have 
been  with  him  on  the  second  missionary  journey.  Mark 
was  with  Paul  in  Rome  (Col.  4  :  10;  Phile.  24),  but  not 
with  him  on  the  second  missionary  journey  (Acts  15  :  39), 
and  for  this  reason  if  for  no  other  must  be  left  out  of  con- 
sideration. Epaphras  was  a  Colossian  (Col.  4:12),  and 
as  Paul  did  not  labor  in  the  vicinity  of  Colossae  until  the 
third  missionary  journey,  there  is  no  ground  for  thinking 
that  Epaphras  can  have  been  with  him  on  the  second  jour- 
ney. Demas  is  excluded  by  2  Tim.  4  :  10  (Col.  4  :  14; 
Phile.  24).  Of  Jesus  who  bore  the  Roman  surname  Justus 
we  know  only  that  he  was  a  Jewish  fellow-worker  of  the 
apostle  (Col.  4:11).  The  only  remaining  person  who  was 
with  Paul  in  Rome  was  Luke  the  'beloved  physician' 
(Col.  4 :  12).  Justus  was  a  Jew,  Luke  a  Greek  (Col. 
4:11,  14).  But  the  diary  was  obviously  composed  by  one 
who  knew  Greek  thoroughly,  even  such  unusual  and  tech- 
nical terms  as  abound  in  the  narrative  of  Paul's  voyage  to 
Rome.  This  fact  alone  forbids  an  instant's  hesitation 
between  the  claims  of  Justus  and  Luke. 

We  are  next  confronted  by  the  question  whether  the 
diarist  was  also  the  author  of  the  larger  work  in  which  his 
diary  is  embedded.  It  has  been  urged  against  this  identi- 
fication that,  while  the  diarist  had  accurate  knowledge  and 
wrote  with  clearness,  other  portions  of  Acts  betray  the  igno- 

10 


INTRODUCTION 


ranee  of  their  author  and  are  sometimes  obscure.  This 
claim,  whether  well  founded  or  not,  may  be  conceded  with- 
out disadvantage  to  the  view  that  both  writings  had  one 
author.  No  one  can  write  of  what  transpired  forty  or  fifty 
years  ago,  of  which  the  information  must  be  gleaned  from 
written  sources  or  from  Hving  witnesses,  as  one  writes  of 
what  is  being  experienced  from  day  to  day.  In  the  former 
case  one  cannot  separate  absolutely  between  facts  and  the 
interpretation  of  facts.  The  diarist  does  not  suggest  that 
he  possessed  first-hand  knowledge  of  any  events  in  the  his- 
tory of  Christianity  prior  to  his  journeying  with  Paul  from 
Troas  to  Philippi.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  if  he  was 
imperfectly  acquainted  with  some  matters  of  early  Chris- 
tian history,  or  even  with  some  points  in  Paul's  own  career. 
He  was  not  with  Paul  when  he  wrote  to  the  Galatians 
or  to  the  Corinthians,  and  since  he  was  never  in  Corinth 
or  in  Galatia,  as  far  as  we  know,  it  would  not  be  at  all 
remarkable  if  he  never  saw  these  letters.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  we  should  expect  him  to  have  seen  the  letter  to 
the  Romans  when  he  was  in  Rome,  and  it  is  worthy  of  notice 
that  there  is  close  agreement  between  Acts  and  Romans 
as  touching  Paul's  work  and  plans.  Here,  then,  where  it 
is  reasonable  to  expect  that  the  author  of  the  diary  would  be 
acquainted  with  Paul's  writings,  there  is  no  occasion  to 
charge  him  with  ignorance. 

Further,  we  must  beware  of  thinking  the  author  of  Acts 
guilty  of  carelessness  or  of  partiality  merely  because  he  does 
not  always  tell  what  we  regard  as  important  to  be  known. 
His  conception  of  what  was  important  for  his  purpose  may 
well  have  differed  somewhat  from  ours.  Again,  it  would 
not  necessarily  be  unfavorable  to  the  view  that  the  diarist 
and  the  author  of  Acts  were  the  same  person  if  it  could  be 
shown  that  the  author  of  Acts  sometimes  idealized  char- 
acters and  events  of  the  early  days  of  the  church.  The 
tendency  to  idealize  the  past,  and  especially  a  great  past 
and  great  characters,  is  everywhere  traceable  in  history. 
Why  should  the  author  of  Acts  be  an  exception  ?    It  ought 

zi 


INTRODUCTION 


not  to  be  surprising  even  if  he  were  found  to  idealize  the 
hero  of  his  diary,  —  on  the  assumption  that  Acts  was  not 
pubHshed  until  some  twenty  or  thirty  years  after  that  hero's 
death. 

Turning  again  to  the  question  whether  the  diarist  was  also 
the  author  of  Acts,  we  cannot  deny  great  weight  to  the 
following  evidence  in  the  affirmative.  In  the  first  place, 
identity  of  authorship  affords  the  most  natural  explanation 
of  the  retention  of  the  first  person  in  the  so-called  *we- 
passages.'  If  the  author  of  Acts,  when  he  reached  i6  :  lo, 
could  begin  to  quote  from  his  own  journal,  he  would  most 
certainly  write  in  the  first  person.  And  no  other  really 
plausible  explanation  of  the  'we'  has  been  offered.  Again, 
the  literary  similarity  between  the  diary  and  the  remainder 
of  Acts  furnishes  a  valid  argument  for  identity  of  author- 
ship. This  is  best  illustrated  by  the  characteristic  vocabu- 
lary of  the  two  parts. 

There  are  four  hundred  and  seventy-eight  words  peculiar 
to  Acts.  Now  an  examination  of  the  diary  shows  that  these 
peculiar  words  are  distributed  through  it  about  as  they  are 
through  the  rest  of  Acts.  If  the  account  of  the  shipwreck 
be  excluded,  the  diary  should  have  twenty-six  pecuHar 
words  in  proportion  to  its  length,  and  it  actually  has  twenty- 
nine.  The  material  of  chapter  27  is  so  entirely  unique  that 
we  should  expect  a  much  larger  percentage  of  peculiar  words 
than  we  find  elsewhere. 

In  estimating  the  worth  of  this  argument  from  the  vocab- 
ulary of  the  two  parts  of  Acts  it  should  be  remembered 
that  the  vocabulary  of  Acts  and  the  third  Gospel  far  exceeds 
in  wealth  that  of  any  other  equal  portion  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  also  that  the  average  of  uncommon  words  for 
each  chapter  surpasses  every  other  New  Testament  writing, 
not  excepting  Hebrews.  In  view  of  this  fact  we  should 
hold  that  the  similarity  between  the  diary  and  the  rest  of 
Acts  in  point  of  vocabulary  is  a  valid  and  forcible  argument 
for  unity  of  authorship.  It  is  extremely  improbable  that 
two  writers,  the  diarist  and  the  author  of  Acts,  would 

12 


INTRODUCTION 


both  and  in  almost  the  same  degree  have  surpassed  all  other 
New  Testament  authors  in  the  richness  of  their  vocabulary. 

Finally,  unity  of  authorship  is  to  be  argued  from  the  com- 
bination of  the  tradition  of  the  Roman  church  and  the  testi- 
mony of  the  Pauline  letters.  That  tradition  assigned  the 
entire  book  to  Luke ;  the  letters  of  Paul,  as  we  have  shown, 
that  is,  the  letters  of  the  Roman  imprisonment,  point  to 
Luke  as  the  diarist.  The  confluence  of  these  two  streams 
of  evidence,  of  which  neither  is  unworthy  of  respect,  is 
strongly  confirmatory  of  the  two  arguments  already  ad- 
vanced. Their  combined  force  seems  to  put  the  hypothesis 
of  Luke's  authorship  both  of  the  diary  and  of  Acts  on  a  far 
higher  plane  of  probability  than  has  been  successfully  estab- 
lished for  any  other  view. 

In  conclusion  on  this  point  mention  should  be  made  of 
another  highly  interesting  Hne  of  evidence  confirmatory  of 
Lucan  authorship.  We  are  told  that  Luke  was  a  physician 
(Col.  4  :  14),  and  we  find  that  the  language  of  Acts  as  also 
of  the  third  Gospel  accords  with  this  statement  of  Paul. 
In  Acts  alone  there  are  about  one  hundred  and  sixty-three 
words  which,  though  not  exclusively  used  by  medical  writers, 
are  characteristic  of  their  style.  A  number  of  these  are 
found  only  in  the  writings  of  physicians,  others  are  found 
only  there  in  the  pecuHar  sense  in  which  Luke  uses  them. 
Thus  when  Paul,  in  sending  Luke's  salutation  to  the  Colos- 
sians,  characterized  him  as  a  'physician,'  he  furnished  an 
important  clew  to  the  authorship  of  Acts. 

As  to  the  date  of  composition  of  Acts,  the  hypothesis  of 
Lucan  authorship  sets  approximate  limits.  The  diary  follows 
Paul  to  Rome,  and  the  author  of  the  diary  can  hardly  be  sup- 
posed to  have  lived  beyond  the  eighth  or  ninth  decade  of  the 
century.  Acts  was  composed  after  the  Gospel,  and  the  Gos- 
pel probably  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  Accord- 
ingly the  composition  of  Acts  may  be  put  in  the  period  between 
70  and  90  A.D.  Some  writers  who  do  not  regard  Luke  as 
the  author  put  the  date  of  composition  a  little  later,  at  the 
close  of  the  first  century  or  in  the  early  years  of  the  second. 

13 


INTRODUCTION 


ni.   The  Historical  Value  of  Acts 

From  the  very  nature  of  the  case  it  is  obvious  at  the 
outset  that  the  historical  value  of  the  book  is  not  wholly 
uniform.  It  is  scarcely  conceivable  that  it  could  be.  In 
certain  sections  the  author  quoted  his  own  diary,  or  drew 
upon  his  personal  knowledge  of  events.  The  historical 
value  of  these  parts  of  the  book  is  such  as  belongs  to  the 
words  of  a  competent,  honest,  and  thoroughly  well-informed 
witness.  It  is  variously  established  by  the  letters  of  Paul, 
and  in  no  single  detail  do  those  letters  clearly  set  aside  the 
statements  of  the  diary.  So  far  then  no  source  could  be 
more  satisfactory.  But  the  events  of  the  first  twelve  chap- 
ters of  Acts  were  separated  from  the  probable  time  of  its 
composition  by  at  least  a  full  generation,  and  some  of  those 
events  were  of  such  complex  and  dramatic  interest  that 
even  a  contemporary  and  witness  of  them  might  easily  fail 
to  understand  them  altogether.  They  were,  however,  at 
the  source  of  a  great  rehgious  movement,  and  it  was  in- 
evitable that  they  should  be  much  talked  of  and  differently 
understood  by  different  people.  Further,  this  early  history 
was  a  history  of  things  Jewish,  of  a  growth  which  was  for 
a  time  wholly  within  Judaism,  but  the  author  of  Acts  was 
a  Greek  and  therefore  somewhat  more  liable  to  fail  in  his 
apprehension  of  this  early  history  than  a  Jew  would  have 
been.  When  one  calmly  considers  these  facts,  one  recog- 
nizes that  it  is  not  possible  to  regard  Acts  as  having  a 
wholly  uniform  historical  value. 

And  yet  there  are  a  number  of  things  which  create  a  favor- 
able presumption  in  regard  to  the  trustworthiness  even  of  the 
earlier  part  of  Acts.  Thus,  in  the  first  place,  there  is  the 
author's  habit  of  carefully  investigating  those  matters  of 
which  he  treated  (Luke  1:3).  Then  it  appears  to  have 
been  his  way  to  commit  his  observations  to  writing  rather 
than  to  carry  them  loosely  in  memory.  Such  at  least  would 
be  one's  inference  from  the  diary  which  he  kept  while  with 
Paul.     He  also  possessed,  as  the  diary  abundantly  proves, 

14 


INTRODUCTION 


an  admirable  faculty  of  observation,  which  took  account  of 
the  slightest  details  while  at  the  same  time  looking  at  events 
in  their  larger  relations. 

Moreover,  in  addition  to  these  things,  the  author  of  the 
diary  travelled  with  Silas,  a  prominent  member  of  the  Jeru- 
salem church  (Acts  15  :  22,  40);  travelled  a  much  longer 
time  with  Gaius  of  Derbe,  Timothy  of  Lystra,  Tychicus 
and  Trophimus  of  Asia,  with  Sopater  of  Beroea,  with 
Aristarchus  and  Secundus  of  Thessalonica,  with  the  former 
of  whom  he  made  the  eventful  journey  to  Rome  (Acts 
20  :  4;  27  :  2).  Thus  he  had  opportunity  to  learn  of  Paul's 
work  in  Beroea  and  Thessalonica,  in  Derbe,  Lystra,  and 
Ephesus  from  others  besides  the  apostle.  He  spent  some 
days  in  the  home  of  Philip  in  Caesarea,  who  was  the  best 
source  of  information  regarding  his  own  work  in  Samaria 
and  his  intercourse  with  the  Ethiopian  (Acts  21  :  8).  Then 
in  Jerusalem  he  lodged  with  Mnason,  an  'early  disciple* 
(Acts  21  :  16),  who  might  have  told  him  of  the  first  preach- 
ing of  the  Gospel  in  Cyprus  (Acts  11  :  19).  This  visit  in 
Jerusalem  was  about  a  quarter  of  a  century  after  Pentecost, 
and  there  were  probably  persons  still  living  there  who  had 
heard  Peter's  sermon  and  who  had  known  the  martyr 
Stephen.  These  facts  when  taken  together  establish  no 
slight  presumption  in  favor  of  the  general  trustworthiness 
of  Acts.  They  of  course  do  not  render  it  unnecessary 
to  subject  the  narrative,  wherever  possible,  to  a  rigorous 
test. 

Such  a  test  can  be  made  at  certain  points  by  means  of  the 
letters  of  Paul.  In  this  procedure  it  is  rightly  assumed 
that  Paul's  letters  are  the  highest  authority  regarding  his 
aims  and  his  career.  If  the  author  of  Acts  does  not  agree 
with  Paul  in  regard  to  Paul's  own  work  and  plans,  if  there  is 
a  clear  conflict  between  their  representations  as  to  matters 
of  fact,  we  know  where  we  ought  to  stand,  whose  represen- 
tations we  ought  to  accept. 

We  shall  here  pass  in  review  the  chief  alleged  differences 
between  Acts  and  Paul  as  to  matters  of  fact.    And  it  is  to 

IS 


INTRODUCTION 


be  remarked,  in  the  first  place,  that  any  omission  of  facts 
by  Luke,  as,  e.g.,  the  omission  of  Paul's  sojourn  in  Arabia, 
does  not  constitute  a  conflict  between  him  and  Paul  unless 
it  can  be  shown  beyond  reasonable  doubt  that  the  omission 
in  each  particular  instance  was  for  the  express  purpose  of 
creating  an  impression  upon  the  reader  which  the  fact  itself 
would  dissipate.  It  seems  highly  improbable  that  such  a 
purpose  can  be  made  out  in  any  single  instance. 

But  we  have  now  to  consider  some  positive  statements  of 
Acts.  In  26  :  20  Paul  is  represented  as  saying  that  he  had 
*' declared  both  to  them  of  Damascus  first  and  at  Jerusalem 
and  throughout  all  the  country  of  Judea,  and  also  to  the 
Gentiles,  that  they  should  repent  and  turn  to  God."  Now 
this  preaching  throughout  'Judea'  appears  to  be  wholly 
irreconcilable  with  Paul's  statement  in  Gal.  i  :  18-2  :  10. 
It  is  only  necessary  to  read  the  Galatian  passage  by  the  side 
of  Acts  to  be  convinced  of  this.  Again,  Acts  9  :  26-29 
tells  us  that  Paul  on  his  return  from  Damascus  "assayed  to 
join  himself  to  the  disciples,"  that  Barnabas  brought  him 
to  the  apostles,  and  that  he  preached  boldly  in  Jerusalem 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  But  Paul  in  Gal.  i  :  18-19,  when 
speaking  of  his  return  to  Jerusalem  as  a  Christian,  says  that 
he  went  to  visit  Cephas,  and  that  he  saw  no  other  apostle, 
though  he  saw  one  of  equal  authority,  viz.  James,  the  Lord's 
brother.  Here  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  Paul  could  have 
been  Luke's  source  of  information.  The  narrative  seems 
to  set  Paul's  relation  to  the  disciples  and  apostles  in  Jeru- 
salem in  a  different  light  from  that  in  which  Paul  himself 
sets  it  in  Galatians.  On  the  one  hand,  he  "assayed  to  join 
himself  to  the  disciples,"  on  the  other  he  came  to  visit  Peter; 
on  the  one  hand,  he  was  brought  to  the  'apostles'  (the 
plural  is  used),  on  the  other  he  saw  no  apostle  but  Peter. 

Once  more,  Luke  in  Acts  11  :  29-30  and  12  :  25  speaks 
of  a  journey  of  Paul  to  Jerusalem  from  Antioch,  to  carry 
relief  to  the  Christian  brethren,  but  Paul  in  Galatians  (2  :  i) 
seems  to  declare  that  he  was  not  in  Jerusalem  again  after 
his  first  visit  until  he  went  up  to  consider  the  question  of  the 

16 


INTRODUCTION 


circumcision  of  Gentile  converts,  which,  according  to  Acts, 
was  his  third  visit.  Whether  there  is  here  an  essential  con- 
tradiction between  Acts  and  Galatians,  or  whether  the  wide 
difference  in  the  aims  of  the  two  writings  is  sufficient  to 
account  for  the  phenomena,  is  still  matter  of  debate.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  the  problems  that  appear  from  a  com- 
parative study  of  Acts  15  and  Gal.  2.  In  Acts  Paul  plays 
a  subordinate  role,  in  Galatians  the  chief  one.  The  account 
of  the  conference  in  Acts  breathes  a  spirit  of  harmony,  that  in 
Galatians  a  spirit  of  conflict.  According  to  Acts  certain '  neces- 
sary things  were  laid  upon  the  Gentile  converts  in  Antioch, 
according  to  Galatians  the  leaders  in  Jerusalem  'imparted 
nothing'  to  Paul.  It  is  clear  that  Acts  gives  us  a  widely 
different  idea  of  what  took  place  in  Jerusalem  from  that 
which  we  get  by  reading  Galatians,  but  it  is  not  certain  that 
both  representations  may  not  be  imperfect,  one-sided  views 
of  the  same  events.  Paul's  account  bends  everything  to  the 
establishment  of  his  independent  authority;  it  represents 
the  personal  point  of  view.  The  account  in  Acts  represents 
the  churchly  point  of  view  a  generation  after  the  epistle 
to  the  Galatians  was  written.  Both  accounts  agree  that  the 
judaizers  failed  to  carry  their  point  regarding  the  necessity 
of  circumcision,  and  therefore  that  Paul  was  triumphant. 

It  has  sometimes  been  urged  against  the  historical  char- 
acter of  Acts  that  it  represents  Paul,  who  declares  that  he 
was  called  to  be  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  (Gal.  i  :  16), 
as  always  preaching  to  the  Jews  and  as  turning  to  the  Gen- 
tiles only  when  rejected  by  his  own  people.  This  procedure 
is  indeed  noteworthy,  but  ought  not  to  be  construed  in  a 
manner  unfavorable  to  the  historical  value  of  Acts.  For 
surely  the  call  to  be  an  apostle  to  the  Gentiles  did  not  de- 
termine the  method  of  approach  to  the  Gentiles,  and  did  not 
lay  an  injunction  on  the  apostle's  exercise  of  common  sense. 
He  was  still  free  to  begin  his  work  for  the  Gentiles  there 
where  he  could  do  so  with  the  best  hope  of  success,  viz. 
among  those  Gentiles  who  were  already  acquainted  with 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures  and  Messianic  hope  through  their 
c  17 


INTRODUCTION 


attachment  to  the  synagogue.  Moreover,  the  unquestionable 
letters  of  Paul  are  confirmatory  of  the  representation  of 
Acts,  that  he  always  approached  the  Gentile  world  by  way 
of  the  Jewish  synagogue.  He  tells  us  in  Romans  (i  :  i6) 
that  it  was  the  prerogative  of  the  Jews  to  have  the  first  offer 
of  the  Gospel,  and  in  Corinthians  that  to  the  Jews  he  became 
as  a  Jew,  that  he  might  gain  Jews  (i  Cor.  9  :  20).  Again, 
he  writes  in  general  terms  concerning  his  message  and 
hearers,  saying,  ''We  preach  Christ  crucified,  unto  Jews 
a  stumbling-block  and  unto  Gentiles  foolishness;  but  unto 
them  that  are  called,  both  Jews  and  Greeks,  Christ  the  power 
of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God"  (i  Cor.  i  :  23-24).  It  is 
not  therefore  to  be  set  down  as  against  the  historical  value 
of  Acts  that  it  represents  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  as  sys- 
tematically beginning  his  work  in  the  synagogues  of  the 
Jews. 

In  conclusion :  on  this  point  of  testing  the  historical  value 
of  Acts  by  the  epistles  of  Paul  brief  mention  may  be  made 
of  two  matters.  The  conception  of  speaking  with  tongues 
which  we  have  in  Acts  2  :  4-13  is  undoubtedly  to  be  judged 
by  what  Paul  says  of  glossolaly.  It  is  not  therefore  a  strictly 
historical  conception,  but  illustrates  the  tendency  to  idealize 
and  to  invest  intelligible  events  with  a  supernatural  halo. 
Again,  the  story  of  'special  miracles'  wrought  by  Paul  in 
Ephesus  (Acts  19  :  12)  is  widely  different  from  anything  that 
Paul's  letters  tell  us  about  apostolic  signs.  It  is  indeed 
wholly  credible  that  in  a  superstitious  age  people  should 
have  believed  that  Peter's  shadow  or  the  touch  of  a  cloth 
which  had  been  in  contact  with  Paul's  body  would  cure  them 
of  their  diseases,  but  it  does  not  seem  likely  that  either  of 
the  apostles  would  have  encouraged  such  a  notion  and 
thereby  have  descended  to  the  level  of  common  magic. 
It  is  more  probable  that  we  have  here  extreme  illustrations 
of  the  tendency  to  ascribe  miracles  to  great  men.  That 
Paul  in  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  likewise  Peter,  wrought 
mighty  works  cannot  be  doubted,  but  the  evidence  goes  to 
show  that  these  works  were  sane  and  intelligible. 

18 


INTRODUCTION 


It  remains  to  consider  briefly  the  bearing  of  the  longer 
speeches  of  Acts  on  its  historical  character.  What  has 
already  been  said  of  Acts  as  a  whole,  that  it  has  not  uniform 
historical  value,  is  true  also  of  the  speeches  in  the  book. 
Thus  the  address  of  Paul  to  the  Elders  of  the  Ephesian 
church  gathered  at  Miletus  (Acts  20  :  18-35)  should  prob- 
ably be  regarded  as  based  on  notes  contained  in  the  diary, 
and  therefore  as  possessing  a  high  degree  of  trustworthiness, 
at  least  as  regards  all  matters  of  fact.  The  speech  of  the 
elders  in  Jerusalem  (21  :  20-25),  the  speech  of  Paul  from 
the  stairs  of  Antonia  (22  :  1-2 1),  his  speech  before  Felix 
(24  :  10-21),  and  that  before  Agrippa  (26  :  2-23),  are  all 
capable  of  being  regarded  in  the  same  manner.  All  may 
rest  substantially  on  the  diarist's  own  personal  knowledge. 
That  does  not  of  course  guarantee  their  accuracy  in  every 
point,  but  it  establishes  a  strong  presumption  in  favor  of 
their  essential  trustworthiness.  No  one  of  these  speeches 
can  be  regarded  as  giving  the  very  words  of  the  various 
speakers.  In  the  first  place,  no  one  of  the  five  is  probably 
a  quarter  as  long  as  the  actual  speech;  some  perhaps  not 
more  than  a  tenth  or  twentieth  as  long.  Then,  too,  the  five 
taken  as  a  whole  show  the  average  number  of  words 
peculiar  to  Luke  which  in  view  of  their  extent  they  should 
have.^ 

But  when  we  turn  from  these  speeches,  which  are  so  closely 
connected  with  the  diary,  to  those  of  Peter  and  Stephen, 
we  cannot  expect  as  high  a  degree  of  historical  accuracy. 
The  writer's  knowledge  was  second  hand  at  least,  and  in 
some  cases  may  have  reached  him  through  several  inter- 
mediate links.  It  is  not  then  a  matter  of  surprise  to  find 
that  the  Lucan  element  in  the  vocabulary  of  these  speeches 
is  quite  appreciably  less  than  it  is  in  the  speeches  already 
considered.    This  fact  seems  to  indicate  that  in  these  por- 

'  There  are  987  verses  in  Acts  and  478  peculiar  words,  or  about  one  peculiar 
Lucan  word  for  each  two  verses.  Now  the  five  speeches  mentioned  above  consist 
of  78  verses,  and  show  39  peculiar  words,  that  is,  they  have  exactly  the  average  for 
the  entire  book.  We  must  regard  them,  then,  as  being,  in  a  literary  sense,  largely  a 
Lucan  production. 


19 


INTRODUCTION 


tions  the  author  was  more  dependent  on  information  derived 
from  others  than  upon  his  own  observation. 

To  sum  up  in  regard  to  the  historical  value  of  Acts  we 
may  say,  first,  that  it  is  not  uniform,  but  ranges  from  a  lower 
level  to  the  highest  order  of  excellence;  second,  that  on 
those  matters  which  are  touched  both  by  Acts  and  the  epistles 
of  Paul,  while  points  of  disagreement  are  not  altogether 
wanting,  the  broad  and  deep  harmony  of  the  two  writers 
is,  to  say  the  very  least,  equally  striking  and  significant; 
and  third,  as  to  those  parts  of  Acts  which  we  have  no  outside 
means  of  testing,  we  are  constrained  by  the  character  of  the 
diary  itself  and  by  the  evidence  that  its  author  was  also  the 
author  of  the  entire  book,  to  be  favorably  predisposed  in 
regard  to  their  trustworthiness. 

4.  The  Text.  —  The  character  of  the  present  work  calls  only 
for  a  very  brief  paragraph  on  this  subject,  mainly  to  explain 
and  justify  a  number  of  variant  readings  which  appear  on 
the  following  pages.  The  more  important  of  these  are  from 
the  Codex  Bezae,  known  also  as  Codex  D.  This  is  written 
in  Greek  and  Latin,  dates  perhaps  from  the  sixth  century, 
and  is  said  by  experts  to  show  traces  of  no  fewer  than  nine 
revisions.  It  is  supposed  to  have  arisen  in  a  bilingual 
church,  and  Dr.  Chase  identifies  this  with  Antioch,  where 
both  Greek  and  Syriac  were  spoken.  The  Codex  was  dis- 
covered in  the  monastery  of  Irenaeus  in  Lyons,  and  some 
writers  regard  it  as  giving  the  text  of  that  eminent  Father, 
who  was  born  in  Asia  Minor  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  second 
century. 

This  so-called  '  Western '  text  of  Acts  represents,  according 
to  Blass,  the  first  draft  of  Luke,  while  the  Eastern  text 
represents  a  more  careful  second  draft.  His  view  rests  on 
the  alleged  impossibility  of  explaining  the  peculiarities  of 
either  text  from  the  other. 

Codex  D,  from  which  we  have  noted  a  few  readings, 
differs  widely  from  the  Mss.  (as  Aleph,  A,  and  B)  on  which 
our  revised  Greek  text  is  largely  based.  Thus  there  are 
from  one  hundred  and  forty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  cases 


INTRODUCTION 


where  its  verbs  are  different  from  those  of  the  common 
text  and  more  than  a  hundred  cases  where  it  uses  different 
conjunctions  (Weiss).  The  greater  part  of  this  divergence 
has  nothing  to  commend  it  in  comparison  with  the  common 
text,  but  in  a  very  few  of  its  readings  the  Codex  claims  re- 
spectful attention. 

5.  Literature.  Among  the  less  technical  books  (Eng- 
lish), chiefly  of  quite  recent  date,  which  are  helpful  for 
the  interpretation  of  Acts,  the  following  may  be  mentioned: 

Commentaries. 

R.  J.  Knowling,  in  The  Expositor's  Greek  Testament , 
1900. 

H.  H.  Wendt,  8th  ed.  of  Meyer,  1899. 

J.  R.  Lumby,  in  The  Cambridge  Bible  for  Schools 
and  Colleges,  1897. 

J.  Vernon  Bartlet,  in  The  Century  Bible  (without 
date). 

R.  B.  Rackham,  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles:  an  Exposi- 
tion, 1902. 

Miscellaneous. 

Schurer,  The  Jewish  People  in  the   Time  of  Christy 

Enghsh,  1890  + 
J.  Smith,  Voyage  and  Shipwreck  of  St.  Paul,  4th  ed., 
1880. 

F.  C.  Chase,  The  Credibility  of  the  Book  of  the  Acts  of 

the  Apostles,  1902. 
W.  M.  Ramsay,  St.  Paul  the  Traveller  and  the  Roman 

Citizen,  1896. 
A.  C.  McGiffert,  The  Apostolic  Age,  1897. 

G.  H.  Gilbert,  The  Student's  Life  of  Paul,  1899. 
History  of  Christianity  in  the  Apostolic  Age,  1906. 

Paul  Wernle,  The  Beginnings  of  Christianity,  1903. 
A.  Harnack,  The  Expansion  of  Christianity,  1904. 


INTRODUCTION 


Approximate  Dates  for  the  Apostolic  Age 

A.D.  27-30.  Death  of  Jesus;  Pentecost. 

32.  The  Conversion  of  Paul. 

32-35.  Paul  in  Arabia  and  Damascus. 

35-44.  Paul  in  Syria  and  Cilicia. 

44.  Church  founded  at  Antioch. 

45-47.  Paul's  first  missionary  journey. 

48.  The  Conference  in  Jerusalem. 

48-51.  Paul's  second  missionary  journey. 

51-52.  Through  the  "  upper  country." 

52-55.  Paul  in  Ephesus. 

55-56.  In  Macedonia  and  Achaia. 

56-58.  In  Caesarea. 

58-59.  Voyage  to  Rome. 

59-61.  In  Rome. 

64?.  The  death  of  Paul. 

70.  The  destruction  of  Jerusalem. 


33 


MORE  IMPORTANT  ABBREVIATIONS 

AV Authorized  (King  James)  Version. 

Gr Greek. 

LXX Septuagint. 

m       .....  Margin. 

SV Standard  American  Version. 


ACTS 

I.   The  Church  in  Jerusalem,  1:1-8:3 

I :  I- 1 4.     Introduction:  amplification  of  the  former  narrative   i :  i 
regarding  the  final  injunction  of  Jesus  to  his  disciples 
(1:1-8);  the  ascension  (1:9-11);  obedience  of 
the  disciples  to  the  word  of  Jesus  (i :  12-14) 

1.  The  ^former  °treatise  I  made,  O  °Theophilus,  concerning 

2.  all  that  Jesus  °began  both  to  do  and  to  teach,  °until 

The  Title  :  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  The  Mss.  show  a  number  of 
titles,  as,  '  Acts,'  *  Acts  of  Apostles,'  *  Acts  of  the  Apostles,'  *  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles,'  '  Acts  of  the  Holy  Apostles,'  etc.  Of  these  the  first 
best  describes  the  book. 

I.  Former.  The  Greek  word  is  in  the  superlative  degree,  mean- 
ing '  first,'  and  on  this  fact  some  writers  base  the  view  that  Luke  in- 
tended to  write  at  least  three  treatises  or  volumes.  This,  however, 
seems  quite  uncertain,  for  it  is  known  that  the  Greek  superlative  was 
sometimes  used  with  the  force  of  a  comparative,  and  further  the 
writings  of  Luke  nowhere  employ  the  comparative  of  this  particular 
word.  — The  '  former  °treatise,'  or  the  first  volume  of  Luke's  work, 
is  identified  with  the  third  Gospel,  chiefly  because,  like  that,  it  is  dedi- 
cated to  °Theophilus,  and  also  by  the  fact  that  the  two  writings  are 
closely  bound  together  by  similarity  of  style  and  a  common  vocabulary. 
Treatise.  See  Introduction,  p.  i.  Theophilus.  Since  in  Lk.  i  :  3 
he  is  called  *  most  excellent,'  and  since  this  title  is  given  to  the  Roman 
governors  Felix  and  Festus  (23  :  26;  24  :  3;  26  :  25),  it  has  been 
thought  that  Theophilus  also  was  a  high  official.  Whether  this  was 
the  case  or  not,  the  name  'Theophilus '  and  the  nationality  of  the 
author  of  Acts  favor  the  view  that  he  was  a  Greek.  It  is  quite 
uncertain  where  he  lived.  Began  to  do.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the 
author  wished  to  emphasize  the  beginning  and  to  imply  that  the  pres- 
ent narrative  is  only  a  continuation  of  the  activity  of  Jesus.  The 
Greek  word  for  '  began  '  is  frequently  used  in  the  New  Testament  in 
an  almost  redundant  sense ;  and  furthermore,  Acts,  unlike  Luke's 
Gospel,  does  not  deal  with  the  direct  activity  of  Jesus.  It  is  rather  a 
book  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  showing  what  he,  who  had  wrought  mightily 
through  Jesus,  wrought  also  through  Jesus'  disciples. 

23 


ACTS 

the  day  in  which  he  was  ^received  up,  after  that  he 
°had  given  commandment  ^through  the^  Holy  Ghost 
3.  unto  the  apostles  whom  he  had  chosen  :  to  whom  he 
also  shewed  himself  alive  after  his  passion  °by  many 
proofs,  °appearing  unto  them  by  the  space  of  °forty 

*  R Vm  '  Holy  Spirit '  throughout  the  book. 


2.  Until  the  day.  If  we  had  only  the  Gospel  of  Luke,  we  should 
think  of  the  ascension  as  having  occurred  on  the  day  of  the  resur- 
rection (see  Lk.  24;  comp.  Jn.  20  :  17).  Here  in  Acts,  it  is  put  on  the 
fortieth  day  after  the  resurrection.  It  seems  not  unlikely  that,  in  the 
interval  between  the  composition  of  his  first  volume  and  his  second, 
Luke  learned  of  another  tradition  regarding  the  time  between  the  resur- 
rection of  Jesus  and  his  final  departure.  —  Since  Luke's  first  volume 
covers  the  career  of  Jesus  to  the  day  of  his  ascension,  vss.  1-8,  which 
narrate  events  that  preceded  the  ascension,  and  vss.  9-1 1,  which  de- 
scribe the  ascension,  are  of  the  nature  of  a  supplement  to  the  Gospel. 
To  this  extent  the  two  works  overlap.  Received  up.  The  same  word 
is  used  to  describe  Paul's  taking  up  into  the  ship  at  Assos  (20 ;  14) 
and  the  taking  up  of  the  sheet  which  Peter  saw  in  his  vision  (10  :  16). 
Luke's  Gospel,  according  to  what  at  present  appears  to  be  the  best  text, 
does  not  speak  of  an  ascension  of  Jesus,  but  only  says  that  he  *  parted  * 
from  his  disciples.  Had  given  commandment.  This  is  contained  in 
vss.  4-5.     Through  the  Holy  Ghost.    The  Greek  may  also  be  rendered 

*  through  a  holy  spirit,'  the  attention  being  directed  not  to  a  divine 
agency,  but  to  a  divine  effect.  See  a  special  note  in  the  Appendix.  — 
The  Greek  allows  us  to  connect  this  clause  either  with  *  command- 
ment '  (so  R.V.)   or  with  *  chosen.* 

3.  By  many  proofs.    Luke  in  his  Gospel  mentions  at  least  two 

*  proofs,'  viz.,  the  breaking  of  bread  at  Emmaus  (24 :  35)  and  the 
eating  of  a  piece  of  broiled  fish  (24  :  42).  Similar  proofs  are  found  in 
Matthew  and  John.  The  word  translated  'proof,'  found  nowhere 
else  in  the  New  Testament,  is  defined  by  the  ancient  Greek  lexicog- 
rapher Hesychius  as  meaning  '  a  true  sign.'  The  rendering  of  the 
A. v.,  *  infallible  signs,'  is  not  justifiable.  — The  reference  to  '  proofs' 
of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  probably  indicates  that  its  reality  had  been 
questioned.  Comp.  i  Cor.  15  :  12.  Appearing  unto  them.  The 
writer,  as  was  natural  in  his  time  toward  the  close  of  the  first  cen- 
tury, gave  prominence  to  the  appearances  of  Jesus  to  the  Apostles. 
But  if  we  look  at  the  Gospels,  we  find  that  of  the  nine  appearances 
of  the  risen  Lord  there  mentioned,  only  three  were  to  apostles  exclu- 
sively, and  the  same  number  were  to  disciples  when  no  apostle  was 

24 


ACTS 

days,  and  °speaking  the  things  concerning  the  king- 

4.  dom  of  God  :  and,  °being  assembled  together  with 
them,  he  charged  themnot  to  depart  from  °  Jerusalem, 
but  to  wait  for  the  ^promise  of  the  Father,  which,  said 

5.  hcj  ye  heard  from  me  :  for  John  indeed  baptized  with 
water;   but  ye  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost 

6.  not  many  days  hence.     °They  therefore,  °when  they 

present.  Forty  days.  The  period  of  forty  days  which  preceded  the 
public  ministry  of  Jesus  (Mk.  i  :  13)  was  naturally  followed  by  a 
period  of  equal  length  at  its  close.  Here  as  in  Ex.  34  :  28  and  i  K. 
19  :  8  the  number  may  be  understood  symbolically,  as  denoting  a 
period  of  trial,  Jesus  had  indeed  been  delivered  from  death,  but  was 
not  yet  seated  at  the  right  hand  of  God  in  glory  and  power.  Speaking 
the  things.  The  Gospels  do  not  justify  us  in  the  view  that  Jesus 
taught  his  disciples  any  new  truth  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God 
after  his  resurrection,  nor  is  there  reason  to  suppose  that  Luke 
thought  of  new  teaching. 

4.  Being  assembled  together  with  them.  The  marginal  reading 
*  eating  with  them '  has  against  it  what  the  Gospels  intimate  regarding 
the  habitual  mode  of  life  of  the  risen  Christ.  When  he  took  a  piece 
of  broiled  fish  (Lk.  24  :  42),  it  was  something  extraordinary,  an  act 
designed  to  establish  his  identity.  The  thought  that  he  was  in  the 
habit  of  eating  with  the  apostles  after  his  resurrection  is  quite  unwar- 
ranted. See  Mk,  14  :  25.  Jerusalem,  The  scene  of  the  Last  Sup- 
per, the  scene  of  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Jesus,  was  naturally 
the  place  for  the  Spirit  which  had  been  upon  him  to  come  also  upon 
them  with  power.  Promise  of  the  Father.  A  promise  of  the  Spirit  for 
times  of  special  trial  is  found  in  Lk.  12  :  12,  and  a  general  promise  in 
John  (15  :  26),  but  neither  of  these  is  in  form  a  *  promise  of  the 
Father,'  It  is  possible  that  the  writer  was  here  influenced  by  the 
thought  of  the  Old  Testament  promise  (Jn,  2  :  28),  For  John  indeed. 
This  verse  is  a  modification  of  words  spoken  by  the  Baptist  before  the 
beginning  of  Jesus'  ministry  (Matt.  3:11;  Mk.  1  :  18;  Lk.  3  :  16; 
Jn,  I  :  26-27).  As  used  by  him,  they  referred  to  something  which 
should  be  experienced  by  his  hearers  as  they  came  into  association 
with  Jesus,  not  to  an  event  that  lay  on  beyond  the  completion  of  the 
ministry  of  Jesus.  They  contrasted  an  outward  baptism  of  prep- 
aration with  an  inward  baptism  of  fulfilment.  The  last  clause  of  the 
verse,  '  not  many  days  hence,'  is  added  to  what  the  Baptist  said.  — 
'  Holy  Ghost '  is  to  be  taken  here  as  in  vs,  2. 

6.  They  therefore.  'Therefore  *  looks  back  to  the  promise  of 
Jesus  in  vs.  4.    This  word  of  Jesus  seemed  to  the  Apostles  to  involve 

25 


1 : 7  ACTS 

were   come   together,  asked  him,  saying,    °Lord,   dost 
thou  at  this  time  restore  the  kingdom  to  Israel  ? 

7.  And  he  said  unto  them,°It  is  not  for  you  to  know  times 
or  seasons,  which  the  Father  hath  set  within  his  own 

8.  authority.    But  ye  shall  receive  °power,  °when  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  come  upon  you  :  and  ye  shall  be  °my  witnesses 


the  fulfilment  of  the  Old  Testament  promise  of  a  kingdom.  When 
they  were  come  together.  The  logical  relation  of  this  verse  to  the 
preceding  indicates  that  this  coming  together  was  subsequent  to  that 
of  vs.  4,  but  regarding  the  interval  between  the  two  we  have  no 
knowledge.  It  is  obvious  that  Luke  thought  of  this  meeting  of  vs. 
6  as  associated  with  the  ascension  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  Lord,  dost 
thou  at  this  time,  etc.  Without  doubt  they  still  thought  of  an  earthly 
kingdom,  of  which  a  redeemed  Israel  should  be  the  head.  A  question 
so  little  complimentary  to  the  spiritual  intelligence  of  the  apostles  is 
not  likely  to  have  been  invented  in  the  latter  part  of  the  first  century 
when  the  apostles  were  looked  on  with  veneration  as  founders  of  the 
Church.  Thus  we  have  here  incidental  evidence  that  Luke  drew  from 
an  ancient  and  trustworthy  source. 

7.  It  is  not  for  you,  etc.  This  passage  and  the  quotation  in  20  :  35 
are  the  only  direct  citations  from  words  of  Jesus  in  the  book.  The 
two  passages,  however,  do  not  stand  quite  on  the  same  plane  because 
of  the  mystery  resting  on  the  intercourse  of  the  risen  Lord  with  his 
disciples.  The  statement  that  it  was  not  for  the  disciples  to  know 
*  times  or  seasons  '  of  the  restoration  of  the  kingdom  may  have  been 
derived  from  the  great  saying  of  Jesus  in  Matt.  20  :  35,  that  only  the 
Father  knows  the  day  and  hour  of  the  consummation. 

8.  Power.  The  same  word  is  used  both  of  an  inward  spiritual 
equipment  and  of  the  resulting  outward  achievement.  Thus  Stephen 
was  full  of  power  (6  :  8),  and  great  powers  or  miracles  were  wrought 
by  Philip  (8  :  13).  The  connection  of  this  power  with  the  Spirit  of 
God  was  to  be  illustrated  in  the  case  of  the  disciples  as  it  had  been  in 
the  earthly  life  of  Jesus  (10  :  38).  When  the  Holy  Ghost  is  come 
upon  you.  Here  and  in  the  three  other  passages  of  Acts  (10  :  44, 
II  :  15,  19  :  6),  where  a  coming  or  falling  of  the  Spirit  is  mentioned; 
we  have  the  definite  Greek  form,  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  thought  is 
on  the  divine  agent,  not  on  the  divine  effect.  My  witnesses.  Ac- 
cording to  Lk.  24  :  44-48  the  substance  of  the  disciples'  witness  was 
to  be  that  the  death  and  resurrection  of  Christ  were  in  fulfilment  of 
the  Scriptures,  and  that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  in  his  name 
are  good  tidings  for  all  nations.  Thus  their  witnessing  was  to  be  per- 
sonal, centring  in  Christ.    This  thought  is  involved  again  and  again 

26 


ACTS 

both  in  °Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Judea  and  Samaria, 
9.  and  unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth.  And 
when  he  had  said  these  things,  as  they  were  looking, 
he  was  °taken  up;  and  a  cloud  received  him  out  of 
their  sight. 
10.  And  while  they  were  °looking  stedfastly  into  heaven 
as  he  went,  behold,  °two  men  stood  by  them  in  white 

in  the  teaching  of  Jesus  (see,  e.g.,  Matt.  5  :  13,  14;  10  :  32).  Jeru- 
salem, Judea,  Samaria,  etc.  It  was  natural  that  the  disciples  should 
begin  at  Jerusalem,  and,  in  keeping  with  the  universality  of  Jesus' 
teaching,  that  they  should  go  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  The  example 
of  Jesus  would  lead  them  to  begin  with  their  own  people  (Matt.  10 : 
6;  15  :  24),  as  well  as  the  fact  that  here  the  way  had  already  been 
prepared  for  the  Gospel  by  the  Old  Testament  and  the  work  of  Jesus. 
The  middle  terms  —  Judea  and  Samaria  —  can  hardly  be  understood 
as  indicating  the  order  which  the  evangelization  of  the  world  should 
take  after  it  had  begun  in  Jerusalem.  They  serve  to  express  the 
thought  that  the  extension  of  the  kingdom  from  Jerusalem  should  be 
a  gradual  and  continuous  work,  going  farther  and  farther,  as  waves 
that  proceed  from  one  centre  of  disturbance.  In  this  word  Jesus 
clearly  intimated  to  his  disciples  that  their  thought  of  a  restoration 
of  the  kingdom  to  Israel  (vs.  6)  was  erroneous. 

9.  Taken  up.  The  writer  plainly  thought  of  a  visible  ascension. 
In  this  respect  his  narrative  goes  beyond  the  Gospels.  Matthew  and 
John,  who  were  present  on  the  occasion  here  mentioned,  do  not  speak 
of  a  visible  ascension.  Hence  the  view  of  some  writers  that  this 
feature  of  Acts  is  a  later  addition,  an  effort  to  provide  what  might  be 
regarded  as  a  worthy  conclusion  of  the  period  in  which  the  risen  Lord 
had  manifested  himself  to  the  disciples.  If  this  be  true,  the  use  of  a 
'  cloud  '  would  be  explained,  since  clouds  are  employed  in  the  O.T. 
as  the  chariot  of  God  (e.g.,  Ps.  104 :  3).  But  the  subject,  like  some 
others  connected  with  the  resurrection,  is  such  that  the  interpreter 
cannot  speak  with  assurance. 

10.  Looking  stedfastly.  With  the  exception  of  one  passage  in 
Paul  (2  Cor.  3  :  7-13)  the  word  here  translated  is  peculiar  to  Luke 
and  denotes  an  intent  scrutinizing  gaze,  such  as  that  of  the  people  in 
the  Nazareth  synagogue  when  Jesus  read  Isaiah  to  them  (Lk.  4 :  20). 
Two  men.  Though  called  *  men,'  the  white  apparel  indicates  that 
they  were  thought  of  as  angels.  In  the  first  twelve  chapters  of  Acts, 
where  the  author  dealt  with  things  Jewish  and  where  also  he  was 
dependent  on  oral  or  written  sources,  the  appearance  of  angels  is 
comparatively  frequent,  seven  times  in  all;    in  the  later  chapters, 

27 


ACTS 

11.  apparel;  which  also  said,  Ye  men  of  Galilee,  why 
stand  ye  looking  into  heaven?  this  Jesus,  which  was 
received  up  from  you  into  heaven,  shall  so  come  °in 
like  manner  as  ye  beheld  him  going  into  heaven. 

12.  Then  ^returned  they  unto  Jerusalem  from  the  mount 
called  Olivet,  which  is  °nigh  unto  Jerusalem,  a  °sabbath 
day's  journey  off. 

13.  And  when  they  were  come  in,  they  went  up  into 
the  upper  chamber,  where  they  were  abiding;  both 
°Peter  and  John  and  James  and  Andrew,  Philip  and 

based  largely  on  his  own  experience,  there  is  but  one  appearance  of 
an  angel  (27  :  23). 

11.  In  like  maimer.  Not  to  be  taken  in  a  rigorously  literal  manner, 
which  would  bring  the  verse  into  conflict  with  other  passages,  e.g., 
Matt.  25  :  31;  Mk.  13  :  27;  2  Thess.  1:7.  It  is  obvious,  however, 
that  the  verse  reflects  the  belief  in  a  visible  return  of  Jesus,  which  was 
common  in  the  apostolic  age.  As  to  the  underlying  thought  that  Jesus 
was  not  gone  forever,  compare  the  conception  of  Matt.  28  :  20. 

12.  Returned.  That  they  had  gone  out  from  Jerusalem  is  not 
stated  in  Acts,  but  is  in  Lk.  24  :  50.  Nigh  unto  Jerusalem.  Josephus 
gives  the  distance  from  Jerusalem  to  Olivet  as  five  furlongs  and  again 
as  six  (see  Jew.  War,  V.  23;  Ant.  XX,  8.  6).  Sabbath  day's  journey. 
Not  prescribed  in  the  Law,  but  fixed  by  the  rabbis  at  2000  cubits, 
approximately  192  rods.  The  statement  of  Luke's  Gospel  that  the 
ascension  was  '  over  against '  Bethany,  a  village  about  fifteen  furlongs 
distant  (Jn.  11  :  18),  is  not  necessarily  at  variance  with  this,  since 
the  phrase  '  over  against '  does  not  at  all  fix  the  distance  of  the  spot 
from  Bethany. 

13.  The  upper  chamber.  The  Greek  word  here  used  is  found  only 
in  Acts.  It  designates  the  room  where  the  body  of  Dorcas  was  laid 
(9-37)  a-^d  that  in  which  Paul  preached  in  Troas  (20  :  8).  It  is  a 
general  term,  and  does  not  suggest  (like  the  word  '  chamber ')  for 
what  purpose  the  room  was  used.  The  writer  speaks  of  this  upper 
room  as  though  it  were  well  known.  It  may  have  been  in  the  house 
of  Mary  the  mother  of  Mark  (Acts  12  :  12).  This  room  was  not  the 
lodging-place  of  the  eleven  apostles,  but  rather,  in  view  of  vss.  14-15, 
the  meeting-place  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty.  The  view  that 
this  upper  room  was  in  the  temple  is  without  support  and  highly 
improbable.  Peter  and  John,  etc.  In  all  the  four  lists  of  the  apostles 
Peter  stands  first.  In  the  other  three  Andrew  is  mentioned  with  Peter ; 
here  he  follows  James  and  John,  possibly  because  of  less  account  for 

28 


ACTS  1:15 

Thomas,  Bartholomew  and  Matthew,  James    the  son 
of  Alphaeus,  and  Simon  the  Zealot,  and  Judas  the  son 

14.  of  James.  These  all  with  one  accord  continued  sted- 
fastly  °in  prayer,  °with  the  women,  and  °Mary  the 
mother  of  Jesus,  and  with  °his  brethren. 

The  appointment  of  Matthias,  1  :  15-26 

15.  And  °in  these  days  °Peter  stood  up  in  the  midst 
of  the  °brethren,  and  said  (and  there  was  a  multitude 

Acts.  In  the  three  synoptic  lists  James  is  always  mentioned  before 
John ;  here  the  order  is  reversed,  but  we  do  not  know  why.  Matthew 
and  Thomas  change  their  synoptic  places  in  the  present  Hst.  In  Acts 
as  in  Luke's  Gospel,  instead  of  an  apostle  by  the  name  of  Thaddaeus 
(so  Mark)  or  Lebbasus  (so  Matthew),  we  have  Judas  of  James,  i.e., 
probably,  Judas  the  son  of  James.  Here  as  in  the  third  Gospel  the 
second  Simon  is  called  the  Zealot,'  not  as  in  Mark  and  Matthew  the 
'Cananaean.'  —  It  is  a  question  why  Luke  should  have  given  Theophilus 
the  names  of  the  apostles  a  second  time.  Eight  of  the  eleven  he  does 
not  mention  again.  It  has  been  suggested  that  he  may  have  enumerated 
them  in  this  opening  chapter  of  Acts  simply  to  show  that  all  remained 
faithful,  and  that  though  they  had  been  scattered  by  Jesus'  death,  they 
nevertheless  came  together  again. 

14.  In  prayer.  This  is  probably  to  be  read  in  the  light  of  vss.  4 
and  8,  and  so  to  be  understood  as  prayer  for  the  fulfilment  of  the 
promise  of  Jesus.  With  the  women.  The  marginal  reading,  which 
omits  the  article,  has  the  better  Ms.  support.  Who  these  women 
probably  were  we  learn  from  the  Gospels  (see  Lk.  23  :  55;  Matt.  28  :  i; 
Mk.  16:1;  Jn.  19:25).  Mary.  Outside  the  Gospels  this  is  the 
only  N.T.  reference  by  name  to  Mary  the  mother  of  Jesus.  If  her 
home  was  still  in  Nazareth  (see  Jn.  19  :  27),  it  is  most  noteworthy  that 
she  and  other  Galilean  women  made  the  long  journey  to  Jerusalem 
in  anticipation  of  some  blessing  (see  Acts  i  :  8).  His  brethren.  The 
Gospels  represent  the  brothers  of  Jesus  as  unbelieving  (Matt.  12  :  46; 
Mk,  3  :  31;  Jn.  7:5),  but  the  earliest  account  of  the  resurrection 
mentions  an  appearance  of  the  risen  Lord  to  a  certain '  James'  (i  Cor. 
15  :  7),  who  was  probably  the  Lord's  brother.  This  naturally  implies 
that  he  had  come  to  believe  in  Jesus  before  the  resurrection,  and  this 
may  have  been  the  case  with  the  other  three. 

15.  In  these  days.  The  ten  days  between  the  ascension  and  Pente- 
cost. Presumably  no  tradition  of  the  exact  date  of  the  following 
events  was  current  when  Luke  wrote.     Peter  stood  up.    That  Peter 

29 


ACTS 

of  persons  gathered  together,  °about  a  hundred  and 

1 6.  twenty),  Brethren,  it  °was  needful  that  °the  scripture 
should  be  fulfilled,  which  the  Holy  Ghost  spake  before 
°by  the  mouth  of  David  ^concerning  Judas,  who  was 
guide  to  them  that  took  Jesus. 

17.  For  he  was  numbered  °among  us,   and  ^received 

18.  his  portion  in  °this  ministry.    (Now  °this  man  obtained 

took  the  lead  was  due  not  to  any  official  preeminence  among  the 
apostles,  but  rather,  as  throughout  the  Gospels,  to  his  native  endow- 
ment for  leadership.  Brethren.  This  word  is  most  frequently 
employed  by  Luke  to  designate  Christian  disciples,  but  is  used  also 
of  members  of  the  Jewish  faith  (22:5;  28:21).  About  a  hundred 
and  twenty.  Paul  speaks  of  an  appearance  of  the  risen  Lord  to  above 
five  hundred  brethren  (i  Cor.  15  :  6),  but  that  was  probably  in  Galilee. 
The  one  hundred  and  twenty  therefore  who  were  gathered  with  the 
apostles  in  Jerusalem  at  this  time  were  not  all  of  the  disciples. 

16.  Was  needful.  The  Greek  word  denotes  especially  '  that  con- 
straint which  arises  from  divine  appointment.'  So  here.  The  scrip- 
ture. This  is  quoted  below  in  vs.  20,  and  consists  of  two  passages, 
though  the  singular  is  here  used  in  reference  to  it,  perhaps  because 
the  two  are  regarded  as  a  unit.  Comp.  8  :  32,  35,  By  the  mouth  of 
David.  The  ascription  of  various  Psalms  to  David  was  simply  the 
method  of  tradition,  not  the  conclusion  of  scholarship.  Concerning 
Judas.  It  will  be  noticed  that  neither  of  the  passages  mentions  Judas 
by  name,  or  any  individual  whatever,  nor  does  either  of  them  refer  to 
a  *  guide,'  or  in  any  obvious  way  to  the  Messiah.  Hence  plainly  the 
application  of  these  ancient  words  to  Judas  in  his  capacity  as  guide 
to  those  who  arrested  the  Lord  was  based  on  some  supposed  fitness  in 
their  general  thought. 

17.  Among  us :  that  is,  the  apostles,  not  the  one  hundred  and 
twenty.  Received  his  portion.  The  margin  has  '  lot.'  This  figure 
of  obtaining  by  lot,  as  used  with  reference  to  the  apostleship  of  Judas, 
can  mean  only  that  his  admission  to  the  circle  depended  not  on  himself, 
but  on  a  higher  power.  This  ministry.  Characterized  in  vs.  25  as 
*  apostleship.' 

18.  Both  R.V.  and  S.V.  regard  this  verse  and  the  next  as  a  paren- 
thesis, and  so  suggest  to  the  reader  that  they  may  not  belong  to  the 
words  of  Peter,  It  is  indeed  obvious  that  if,  with  some  scholars,  we 
suppose  that  the  author  of  Acts  attributed  them  to  Peter,  we  should 
have  to  allow  that  he  proceeded  in  a  very  free  and  even  careless  manner. 
For  it  is  impossible  to  think  that  Peter,  speaking  to  Jews  in  Jerusalem, 
could  have  felt  called  to  explain  to  them  a  simple  word  of  their  own 

30 


ACTS  I : 20 

a  field  with  the  reward  of  his  iniquity ;  and  falling  head- 
long, he  burst  asunder  in  the  midst,  and  all  his  bowels 

19.  gushed  out.  And  it  became  known  to  all  the  dwellers 
at  Jerusalem;  insomuch  that  °in  their  language  that 
field  was  called  Akeldama,  that  is.  The  field  of  blood.) 

20.  For  it  is  written  in  the  book  of  Psalms, 

Let  his  °habitation  be  made  desolate,  Pb.  69 :  j 

And  let  no  man  dwell  therein  : 
and. 
His  oflSce  let  another  take.  Ps.  xog : 

language  (*  Akeldama  '),  or  that  he  would  have  spoken  as  though 
absent  from  Jerusalem  and  addressing  people  of  another  tongue. 
We  must  therefore  regard  these  verses  as  an  interpolation  in  Peter's 
speech,  presumably  made  by  the  author  of  Acts.  This  man  obtained 
a  field.  According  to  Matt.  27  :  5-8  the  priests  purchased  a  burial 
lot  for  strangers  with  the  money  which  Judas  had  received  from 
them,  and  they  did  this  after  Judas  was  dead.  Judas  therefore 
can  be  said  to  have  obtained  the  field  only  in  the  very  indirect  sense 
that  it  was  obtained  with  money  which  had  been  paid  to  him  and  had 
been  by  him  repudiated.  Still  more  difficult  is  any  attempt  to  har- 
monize what  Luke  says  of  the  manner  of  the  death  of  Judas  with  that 
which  we  have  in  Matthew.  For  though  it  is  indeed  possible  to  re- 
gard Luke's  account  as  '  supplementary  '  to  Matthew's,  it  is  hardly 
possible  to  suppose  that  he  was  acquainted  with  the  other  account. 
His  story  appears  to  be  quite  independent,  and  also  to  show  marks  of 
a  later  origin  than  Matthew's.  Such  are  the  manifestly  rhetorical 
statements  that  he  *  burst  asunder  '  (a  phenomenon  which  is  not 
accounted  for  by  the  supposition  that,  having  hanged  himself,  the  rope 
broke  and  let  him  fall),  that  'all  his  bowels  gushed  out,'  and  that  it 
became  known  to  *  all  the  dwellers  of  Jerusalem.' 

19.  In  their  language.  A  late  form  of  the  ancient  Hebrew  called 
Aramaic.  Some  scholars  regard  these  words  and  the  interpretation 
of  the  Aramaic  term  as  the  only  interpolation  by  Luke,  both  these 
being  occasioned  by  the  fact  that  he  was  writing  for  Greeks. 

20.  Of  Peter's  two  quotations  the  first  is  a  greatly  modified  form 
of  Ps.  69 :  25  and  the  second  is  from  Ps.  109  :  8.  The  author  of 
Ps.  69  had  many  enemies  in  view,  but  Peter  suits  vs.  25  to  Judas  by 
changing  the  plural  'their'  to  'his.'  Habitation.  If  vss.  18-19  are 
regarded  as  an  interpolation,  then  one  might  suppose  that  Peter  referred 
the  word  '  habitation  '  to  Judas'  apostolic  position  among  the  twelve. 
This  habitation,  speaking  rhetorically,  is  to  be  and  remain  desolate. 

31 


ACTS 

21.  Of  the  men  °therefore  which  have  companied  with 
us  °all  the  time  that  the  Lord  Jesus  went  in  and  went 

22.  out  among  us,  beginning  from  °the  baptism  of  John, 
unto  the  day  that  he  was  received  up  from  us,  of  these 
must  one  °become  a  witness  with  us  of  his  resurrection. 

23.  And  °they  put  forward  °two,  Joseph  called  Barsabbas, 

24.  who  was  surnamed  Justus,  and  Matthias.  And  they 
prayed,  and  said,  °Thou,  Lord,  °which  knowest  the 

But  this  view  seems  inadmissible  inasmuch  as  the  eleven  apostles 
straightway  chose  another  to  take  the  place  of  Judas.  Nor  is  it  easy  to 
refer  the  word  '  habitation '  to  the  field  of  blood,  for,  in  the  first  place, 
that  had  been  in  no  proper  sense  the  dwelling-place  of  Judas,  and 
second,  as  the  field  in  which  a  suicide  had  perished,  it  was  not  likely 
that  any  one  would  seek  to  dwell  in  it.  It  is  better  therefore  not  to 
attempt  any  specific  explanation  of  the  word  '  habitation '  but  to  be- 
lieve rather  that  Peter's  thought  in  citing  this  verse  was  only  general 
—  the  utter  ruin  of  Judas. 

21.  Therefore.  This  word  looks  back  to  the  second  quotation. 
All  the  time.  These  words  cannot  be  taken  quite  literally,  for  accord- 
ing to  the  Gospels  there  were  times,  especially  toward  the  end  of  the 
life  of  Jesus,  when  he  took  the  twelve  apart  by  themselves  (e.^.,  Matt. 
16  :  13-20;  Mk.  9  :  30).  But,  in  general,  the  condition  of  apostle- 
ship  was  association  with  Jesus  during  his  entire  ministry,  an  acquaint- 
ance with  the  great  facts  of  his  life  and  teaching.  Of  course  the 
acceptance  of  these  facts,  with  all  the  consequences  of  acceptance,  was 
involved. 

22.  The  baptism  of  John.  The  close  of  John's  ministry  is  thought  of 
as  marking  the  beginning  of  the  ministry  of  Jesus,  although  accord- 
ing to  Jn.  3  :  22-4:  3,  the  activity  of  Jesus  was  for  a  certain  season 
contemporaneous  with  that  of  John.  Become  a  witness  of  his 
resurrection.  Peter  does  not  say  that  the  candidate  must  have  been 
a.  witness  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  though  this  is  implied.  He 
could  not  bear  testimony  to  that  fact  with  the  other  apostles  unless 
he  had  had  experience  of  it.     Comp.  i  Cor.  9:1. 

23.  They  put  forward.  Whether  the  eleven  or  the  one  hundred 
and  twenty  put  forward  the  candidates  does  not  appear.  The  same 
obscurity  rests  on  '  they '  in  vss.  24  and  26.  Two.  We  are  perhaps 
to  think  that  these  were  the  only  ones  who  fulfilled  the  condition  of 
vss.  21-22.  This  fact  would  help  explain  why  the  brethren  were  con- 
fident that  God  had  chosen  one  of  them  (vs.  24).  — Neither  Joseph, 
the  unsuccessful  candidate,  who  bore  a  Roman  surname,  nor  Matthias, 
is  mentioned  elsewhere  in  the  N.T. 

32 


ACTS  1 :  26 

hearts  of  all  men,  °shew  of  these  two  the  one  whom 

25.  thou  hast  chosen,  to  take  the  place  in  this  ministry  and 
apostleship,  from  which  Judas  fell  away,  that  he  might 

26.  go  °to  his  own  place.  And  they  gave  lots  for 
them;  and  the  lot  fell  upon  Matthias;  and  he  was 
numbered  with  the  eleven  apostles. 


24.  Thou,  Lord.  The  word  translated  *  Lord  '  is  used  in  Acts  of 
men  {e.g.,  25  :  26)  and  angels  (e.g.,  10  :  4),  of  Jesus  (e.g.,  i  :  6)  and 
Jehovah  (e.g.,  2  :  34).  The  context  must  determine  who  is  meant  in 
each  case.  Here,  as  we  show  below,  the  reference  is  to  God. 
Which  knowest  the  hearts.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  Greek  word 
used  here  is  found  again  in  Peter's  speech  in  15  :  8,  but  nowhere  else 
in  the  New  Testament  —  a  suggestion  that  this  prayer  was  from 
Peter,  In  15  :  8  the  one  who  knows  the  heart  is  explicitly  designated 
as  God  and  is  distinguished  from  the  Lord  Jesus  (15  :  11).  This 
fact  would  lead  us  to  think  of  God  in  the  present  passage.  Further, 
the  next  prayer  of  the  disciples  which  is  given  in  Acts  (4 :  29-30)  is 
addressed  to  God,  as  are  also  the  prayers  and  praises  of  Paul  in  every 
instance  in  Acts  (16  :  25;  27  :  35;  28  :  15).  The  prayer  of  Stephen 
is  the  solitary  case  in  Acts  in  which  prayer  is  certainly  addressed  to 
Jesus  (7  :  59),  though  we  are  probably  to  take  the  three  passages  which 
speak  of  '  calling  on  his  name'  as  alluding  to  prayer  (9  :  14,  21;  21 :  16). 
In  view  of  these  facts  we  should  regard  the  word  '  Lord  '  in  i  :  24  as 
equivalent  to  'God.'  Shew.  The  Greek  word,  only  here  and  Lk. 
10  :  I,  has  the  meaning  'announce'  or  'show  clearly.'  It  indicates 
therefore  with  what  assurance  the  disciples  resorted  to  the  use  of 
the  lot. 

25.  To  his  own  place.     Peter  did  not  specifically  consign  Judas  to 
j  Gehenna.     A  man's  '  own  place '  is  that  for  which  he  is  fitted  in  the 

sight  of  him  who  knows  the  heart ;  whatever  he  and  the  others  present 
may  have  believed,  they  practised  a  wise  reserve  in  their  language. 

26.  All  details  of  the  procedure  here  mentioned  are  obscure. 
How  the  lots' were  given,  whether  to  or  for  the  candidate,  how  the  lot 
*  fell '  upon  Matthias,  whether  by  shaking  an  urn  until  a  lot  flew  out 
or  in  some  other  way  —  must  remain  unknown.  The  only  other 
casting  of  lots  in  the  New  Testament  was  that  by  the  Roman  soldiers 
for  the  garments  of  Jesus  and  the  two  who  were  crucified  with  him. 
It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  choice  of  an  apostle  was  not  left 
wholly  to  lot.  Two  men  had  been  selected  as  fulfilling  the  condition 
laid  down  by  Peter.  The  matter  of  deciding  between  two  who  as  far 
as  men  could  judge  were  equally  well  fitted  for  the  place  might  well 
be  left  to  a  prayerful  use  of  the  lot. 

^  33 


2:i  ACTS 

Pentecost:    the  Spiritual  event;    the  immediate  effect, 
Peter^s  speech;  result  of  Peter's  words,  2 : 1-41. 

2.      And  when  the  °day  of   Pentecost  °was   now  come, 

2.  °they  were  all  together  in  one  place.  And  °suddenly 
there  came  from  heaven  a  sound  as  of  the  rushing  of 
a  mighty  wind,  and  it  °filled  all  the  house  where  °they 

3.  were  sitting.  And  there  °appeared  unto  them 
^tongues  parting  asunder,  like  as  of   j&re;    and  it  sat 

4.  upon  each  one  of   them.     And  they  were  all  °filled 


1.  Day  of  Pentecost.  This  was  the  morrow  after  the  seventh 
Sabbath  succeeding  the  Passover  (Lev.  23  :  15-16),  hence  as  Jesus 
rose  on  the  day  after  the  Sabbath,  Pentecost  was  on  the  Christian 
Sunday.  Was  now  come.  The  marginal  reading  '  was  being  ful- 
filled '  dififers  from  that  in  the  text  as  the  indefinite  from  the  definite. 
Pentecost  was  '  come  '  at  sunset  of  Saturday,  it  was  '  being  fulfilled  ' 
from  that  hour  until  sunset  of  the  following  day.  As  the  event  to  be 
described  took  place  about  nine  in  the  morning  (vs.  15),  it  is  obvious 
that  the  marginal  reading  is  preferable.  They  were  all  together. 
Two  companies  of  disciples  have  been  mentioned,  a  smaller  (i  :  14) 
and  a  larger  (i  :  15).  As  the  latter  was  last  mentioned,  it  is  natural 
to  suppose  that  the  author  wished  it  to  be  understood  here.  As  the 
day  was  the  memorial  of  the  resurrection,  the  larger  circle  of  disciples 
was  naturally  together.  —  The  place  of  assembling  is  not  fixed,  save 
that  it  was  in  a  house  (vs.  2).  It  is,  however,  natural  to  think  of  the 
'upper  chamber'  of  i  :  13,  which  just  because  it  was  well  known 
might  be  understood  as  the  scene  of  2:1. 

2.  Suddenly.  This  word  as  well  as  '  from  heaven,'  suggests  that 
the  phenomenon  was  supernatural.  The  same  is  done  by  the  word 
*  as,'  which  in  comparing  the  sound  with  that  of  wind  implies  that  it 
was  not  wind  which  caused  it.  Filled  all  the  house.  As  the  coming  of 
the  sound  was  extraordinary,  so  also  was  its  presence  in  the  house. 
But  how  its  presence  difi^ered  from  that  of  any  other  sound  which 
penetrated  the  house  we  are  not  told. 

3.  Appeared.  The  Greek  word  so  translated  is  frequently  used 
in  Acts  of  visionary  appearances  {e.g.,  7:2,  16  :  9),  but  the  fact  that 
the  sound  is  represented  as  audible  to  ears  of  flesh  makes  it  probable 
that  Luke  thought  of  the  *  tongues  '  as  something  physically  visible. 
Tongues.  Three  things  are  affirmed  of  these  tongues:  that  they 
'  distributed  themselves '  (R.V.m.),  that  they  were  fiery  in  appear- 

34 


ACTS  2:6 

with  the  Holy  Spirit,   and  began  to  speak  °with  other 
tongues,  as  the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance. 

5.  Now  there  were  °dwelling  at  Jerusalem  Jews,  devout 

6.  men,   °from  every  nation  under  heaven.     And  when 
°this  sound  was  heard,  °the  multitude  came  together, 

ance,  and  that  they  sat  on  those  present.  The  form  of  the  Greek 
word  translated  '  sat '  suggests  a  momentary,  fleeting  phenomenon. 
The  symbolical  meaning  of  the  tongues  appears  in  the  next  verse. 

4.  Filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  may  better  be  rendered 
'filled  with  holy  spirit,'  i.e.,  with  a  holy  enthusiasm  and  power  be- 
cause of  the  Spirit's  presence.  See  note  on  1:2.  The  figure  in 
the  promise  was  that  of  '  baptism  '  (i  :  5),  or  of  a  *  coming  '  of  the 
Spirit  upon  the  disciples  (i  :  8),  both  of  which  are  used  elsewhere  in 
the  book  {e.g.,  11:6;  19:6);  here,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  that  of  '  being 
filled,'  which  is  much  the  commonest  figure  used  in  Acts  in  this  con- 
nection {e.g.,  4:8;  6:3;  7:55;  9:17).  With  other  tongues.  It  is 
plain  from  vss.  6-7  that  the  author  meant  by  '  other  tongues ' 
languages  different  from  that  which  the  disciples  had  been  speaking ; 
that  is,  foreign  tongues.  This  makes  it  quite  unnecessary  to  assume 
a  miracle  in  the  hearers,  enabling  them  to  hear  as  in  their  own 
language  what  was  actually  spoken  in  another,  Luke  puts  the 
miracle  clearly  and  solely  in  the  speakers.  This  speaking  with 
other  tongues  began  in  a  house,  but  the  circumstances  of  the 
following  verse  seem  to  require  us  to  suppose  that  it  was  continued 
outside  the  house,  for  the  multitude  which  furnished  3000  converts 
(vs.  41)  can  hardly  have  been  gathered  in  the  upper  room  or  indeed 
in  any  private  house  which  the  Galilean  disciples  are  likely  to  have 
had.  Nevertheless  the  phenomenon  is  represented  as  of  short  dura- 
tion. When  Peter  spoke  to  the  multitude,  he  spoke  a  language  which 
all  alike  understood ;  that  is,  his  own  Aramaic  tongue.  Nor  does  the 
phenomenon  as  here  described  reappear  in  the  book.  On  the  relation 
of  speaking  with  '  other  tongues  '  to  speaking  *  with  tongues  '  see  note 
2  in  Appendix. 

5.  Dwelling.  The  Greek  word  so  translated  is  habitually  used  in 
Acts  to  designate  a  long-continued  or  permanent  residence  {e.g., 
7  :  2,  48;  9  :  22,  32),  Hence  these  Jews  were  not  transient  guests, 
who  had  come  to  Jerusalem  to  attend  the  feast.  They  were  rather 
Tews  who,  having  spent  years  in  foreign  parts,  in  some  cases  at  least 
having  been  born  there  (vs.  8),  had  now  come  back  to  reside  in  their 
sacred  city.  From  every  nation.  This  expression  is  limited  by  vss. 
9-1 1  to  the  Roman  empire. 

6.  This  sound.  It  is  common  to  regard  this  as  the  same  sound 
■^hich  the  disciples  had  heard,  though  the  word  employed  here  is  not 

35 


2:7  ACTS 

and  were  ^confounded,  because  that  every  man  heard 

7.  them  speaking  in  his  own  language.    And  they  were  all 
°amazed  and  marvelled,  saying.  Behold,  are  not  all  these 

8.  which  speak  ^Galileans?    And  °how  hear  we,  every 
man  in  our  own  language,  wherein  we  were  born? 

9.  Parthians  and  Medes  and  Elamites,  and  the  dwellers 


the  same  that  is  found  in  vs.  2.  Now  the  sound  which  the  disciples 
heard  came  '  from  heaven,'  and  it  does  not  appear  why  the  multitude, 
if  they  heard  the  same  sound,  should  have  gathered  at  the  house  where 
the  apostles  were.  They  would  rather  have  stood  looking  up  to  heaven 
whence  the  sound  came.  Therefore  it  seems  better  to  regard  the  sound 
of  vs.  6  as  that  which  was  made  by  the  speaking  of  the  one  hundred 
and  twenty  in  vs.  4.  This  must  have  been  heard  on  the  street,  and 
naturally  it  attracted  attention.  The  multitude.  A  favorite  word  of 
Luke's,  especially  in  Acts.  It  has  recently  been  held  (Deissmann) 
that  the  Greek  word  so  translated  had  a  technical  sense,  denoting  the 
members  of  a  religious  association  in  their  totality,  somewhat  like  the 
word  '  community  '  Were  this  explanation  adopted  (it  can  hardly 
be  in  all  cases,  e.g.,  5  :  14;  14  :  4),  it  would  make  the  use  of  the  article 
easier.  Confounded.  Twice  this  word  (the  Greek  so  translated), 
which  is  used  in  the  N.T.  only  in  Acts,  denotes  intense  excitement 
(j9  :  32;  21  :  31),  and  in  the  other  passages,  as  here,  it  denotes  an 
extreme  degree  of  mental  bewilderment. 

7.  Amazed.  A  favorite  word  with  Luke  (11  times  in  his  writings 
against  six  in  the  rest  of  the  N.T.,  while  'confounded'  (vs.  6)  and 
'  perplexed  '  (vs.  12)  are  found  only  in  his  writings).  The  emphasis 
put  on  the  effect  of  the  speaking  accords  with  the  conception  that  it 
was  a  miraculous  speaking  in  foreign  tongues.  Galileans.  The  ques- 
tion is  obviously  rhetorical  and  not  for  information.  How  the  company 
of  disciples  were  recognized  as  Galileans  is  not  clear.  Had  they  been 
speaking  Aramaic,  Jerusalem  Jews  might  have  detected  their  Galilean 
origin  in  their  accent  or  vocabulary  (see  Matt.  26  :  73;  Mk.  14  :  70; 
Lk.  22  :  59),  but  the  writer  represents  them  as  speaking  various  foreign 
tongues,  and  here  their  provincial  peculiarities  in  the  use  of  their 
own  language  cannot  be  supposed  to  have  been  perceptible.  Per- 
haps we  may  assume  that  they  were  known  as  followers  of  Jesus,  and 
that  it  was  already  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  that  his  followers 
were  chiefly  Galileans. 

8.  How  hear  we,  etc.  It  must  be  assumed  that  people  who  made 
this  remark  made  it  in  Aramaic,  for  if  they  had  made  it  in  their 
respective  Gentile  languages,  they  would  not  have  understood  one 
another. 

36 


¥ 


UNIVERSITY] 

X£^LIF0RH1^  ACTS  2:13 

in  Mesopotamia,  in  Judaea  and  Cappadocia,  in  Pontus 

io.   and  Asia,  in  Phrygia  and  Pamphylia,  in  Egypt  and  the 

parts  of  Libya  about   Cyrene,   and  sojourners  from 

11.  Rome,  both  Jews  and  proselytes,  Cretans  and  Arabians, 
we  do  hear  them  speaking  in  our  tongues  the  ^mighty 

12.  works  of  God.     And  they  were  all  amazed,  and  were 
perplexed,  saying  one  to  another,  What  meaneth  this  ? 

13.  But  °others  mocking  said.  They  are  filled  with  new  wine. 

9-1 1.  The  systematic  arrangement  of  the  proper  names  in  these 
verses  cannot  of  course  be  supposed  to  have  been  the  utterance  of  any 
one  at  the  time.  It  belongs  to  the  writer.  The  order  of  enumeration 
proceeds  from  east  to  west.  In  the  first  geographical  group  —  Parthia, 
Media,  Elymais,  and  Mesopotamia  —  lived  the  descendants  of  those 
Jews  who  had  been  deported  between  the  eighth  and  sixth  centuries 
B.C.  In  the  second  group,  excepting  Judea,  the  Jewish  population 
dated  chiefly  from  the  Greek  age.  The  two  centres  in  the  third  group 
were  Alexandria  and  Cyrene,  both  of  which,  in  the  Greek  age,  became 
the  homes  of  large  Jewish  colonies.  We  may  count  Italy  or,  in 
particular,  Rome,  as  a  fourth  division,  whither  Jews  were  taken 
by  Pompey  after  his  subjugation  of  Syria  (64-62  B.C.).  The  Roman 
Jews  present  at  Pentecost  are  called  *  sojourners,'  a  word  found 
only  here  and  in  17  :  21.  Its  exact  force  here  is  uncertain.  It  may 
indicate  that  the  Roman  Jews,  in  contrast  to  the  others,  were  but 
temporarily  present  in  Jerusalem,  or  that  their  residence  in  Rome 
had  been  but  temporary.  Comp.  i  Pet.  1:1.  Uncertain  also  is  the 
reference  of  the  clause  '  both  Jews  and  proselytes.'  We  may  limit  it 
to  the  Roman  delegation,  which  limitation  is  favored  by  its  position, 
or  we  may  refer  it  to  all  the  geographical  divisions.  In  specifying 
the  *  Cretans  and  Arabians  '  last,  the  order  of  enumeration  from  east 
to  west  is  abandoned.  They  were  perhaps  added  as  an  after-thought. 
Judea  in  the  second  group,  whether  we  understand  it  in  its  ordinary 
and  proper  signification,  or,  with  some,  hold  that  it  includes  all 
Palestine,  presents  a  difiiculty,  for  the  differences  of  dialects  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  Palestine  were  not  so  great  as  to  justify  the  expression 
'  other  tongues.'  Mighty  works.  The  Greek  word  so  translated  is 
used  only  here  in  theN.T.  and  its  reference  is  undefined.  One  natu- 
rally thinks  of  the  revelation  of  God  in  the  deeds  of  Jesus  and  in  his 
resurrection,  but  this  is  only  a  conjecture. 

1 2.  This  repetition  of  the  thoughts  in  vss.  7-8  prepares  the  way  for 
vs.  13. 

13.  Others.  It  is  possible  that  these  were  Jews  of  Jerusalem,  and 
such  as  had  been  hostile  toward  Jesus,  but  nothing  requires  this  view. 

37 


?:i4  ACTS 

14.  But  Peter,  °standing  up  with  the  eleven,  lifted  up  his 
voice,  and  spake  forth  unto  them,  saying,  °Ye  men  of 
Judea,  and  all  ye  that  dwell  at  Jerusalem,  be  this 

15.  known  unto  you,  and  give  ear  unto  my  words.  For 
these  are  not  drunken,  as  ye  suppose ;   seeing  it  is  but 

16.  °the  third  hour  of  the  day ;  °but  this  is  that  which  hath 
been  spoken  by  the  prophet  Joel; 

Foeia:38-3a   1 7.  And  it  shall  be  in  the  °last  days,  saith  God, 

In  the  multitude  who  were  drawn  together,  though  they  were  as  a 
whole  '  devout  men '  (vs.  5),  there  may  have  been  some  whom  the 
strange  phenomenon  would  lead  to  mocking  words.  New  wine. 
The  Greek  word,  used  only  here  in  the  N.T.,  denotes  sweet  wine,  but 
it  is  plain  from  vs.  15  that  this  might  intoxicate. 

14.  Standing  up.  This  word  with  the  two  following  verbs  *  lifted 
up '  and  '  spake  forth  *  picture  the  opening  of  Peter's  impromptu 
address  as  dignified  and  solemn.  Ye  men  of  Judea.  The  form  of 
Peter's  address  gives  greater  prominence  to  the  Jerusalem  and  Judean 
element  than  do  the  preceding  verses.     Comp.  vss.  22-23,  3^- 

15.  The  third  hour.  Probably  said  in  view  of  the  habits  of  men  in 
general  (see  i  Thess.  5:7).  The  early  morning  is  not  usually  devoted 
to  drink. 

16.  This  is  that.  The  speaking  with  *  other  tongues  *  is  here 
aflSrmed  to  be  a  fulfilment  of  Joel  2  :  28-32  a. 

17.  The  quotation  of  vss.  17-21  departs  from  the  Hebrew  (i)  in 
introducing  the  clause  'last  days';    (2)  in  the  words  'saith  God'; 

(3)  in  the  representation  that  God  pours  forth  part  of  his  Spirit; 

(4)  in  changing  the  order  of  '  old  men  '  and  '  young  men ';  (5)  in  the 
insertion  of  the  pronoun  '  my  '  before  '  servants  '  and  '  hand-maidens  * 
(vs.  18);  (6)  in  the  insertion  of  the  words  '  and  they  shall  prophesy' 
(vs.  18);  (7)  in  the  insertion  of  '  signs  '  (vs.  19) ;  and  (8)  in  changing 
*  pillars  of  smoke  '  to  '  vapour  of  smoke  *  (vs.  19).  It  follows  the 
Greek  Septuagint,  in  the  third,  fifth,  and  eighth  of  these  points. ( 
In  the  others  we  may  have  free  modifications  by  the  speaker, 
or,  as  in  thie  first  point,  an  interpretation  of  the  prophet's  words.! 
Last  days.  This  conception,  the  same  as  that  of  '  last  hour ' 
(i  Jn.  2  :  18)  and  '  last  time  '  (i  Pet.  1:5),  does  not  occur  elsewhere 
in  Luke's  writings.  It  is  most  frequent  in  the  writings  of  Peter.- 
Joel  has  the  simple  expression  '  afterward,'  which  puts  the  gift  of  i 
God's  Spirit  after  the  chastisement  of  Israel  and  his  recognition  of 
God's  goodness  (Joel  2).  It  seems  to  precede  the  return  of  Judah  andi 
Jerusalem  from  captivity  (Joel  3:1).  It  is  not  probable  that  Joel' 
thought  of  the  outpouring  of  God's  Spirit  as  being  far  away  in  the 

38 


ACTS  2 :  20 

I  will  °pour  forth  of  my  Spirit  upon  °all  flesh  : 
And  your  sons  and  your  daughters  shall  ^prophesy, 
And  your  young  men  shall  see  visions, 
And  your  old  men  shall  dream  dreams  : 

1 8.  Yea  and  on  my  servants  and  on  my  hand-maidens 

in  those  days 
Will  I  pour  forth  of  my  Spirit;    and  they  shall 
prophesy. 

19.  And  I  will  shew  wonders  in  the  heaven  above, 
And  signs  on  the  earth  beneath; 

Blood,  and  fire,  and  vapour  of  smoke  : 

20.  The  sun  shall  be  turned  into  darkness, 
And  the  moon  into  blood, 

future.  In  applying  the  prophecy  to  the  events  of  Pentecost  and 
introducing  the  '  last  days,'  it  is  obvious  that  Peter  thought 
of  the  Day  of  Judgment  as  near  at  hand.  Pour  forth  of  my 
Spirit.  This  partitive  expression  *  of  my  Spirit '  Peter  shares 
with  the  Septuagint.  In  the  Hebrew  the  gift  is  unqualified. 
The  Jews  did  not  expect  the  universal  outpour  of  the  Spirit  as  a 
part  of  the  Messianic  dispensation.  All  flesh.  This  is  limited  in  Joel, 
also  in  the  thought  of  Peter,  to  the  house  of  Israel.  It  is  '  your ' 
sons  and  *  your '  daughters  on  whom  Joel  tells  his  hearers  that  the 
Spirit  shall  be  poured  out,  and  in  3  :  2  he  pictures  the  judgment  of  the 
nations.  Evidently  the  Spirit  is  not  thought  of  as  poured  out  upon 
them.  Peter's  speech,  moreover,  does  not  go  outside  of  his  audience, 
and  that  was  Jewish.  The  events  of  chapter  10  would  have  been 
impossible  if  Peter  had  already  reached  the  belief  that  God's  Spirit 
was  to  be  poured  out  on  Gentiles  as  well  as  Jews.  Prophesy  .  .  . 
see  visions  .  .  ,  dream  dreams.  We  are  not  to  think  that  Peter  saw 
a  fulfilment  of  these  points  in  what  had  actually  taken  place,  but 
rather  that,  in  his  thought,  the  time  for  these  things  was  now  come. 

19.  Both  in  the  prophets  and  in  the  New  Testament  (e.g.,  in  the 
eschatological  discourse  of  Jesus,  Mk.  13)  certain  awful  signs  are 
said  to  precede  the  consummation  of  the  age.  The  sign  of  *  blood ' 
may  be  thought  of  in  analogy  with  2  K.  3  :  23,  but  however  realized 
probably  signifies  bloodshed  (comp.  Mk.  13  :  7).  *  Fire '  and 
*  pillars  of  smoke  '  were  frequent  accompaniments  of  war,  as  cities 
when  captured  were  given  over  to  the  flames. 

20.  Eclipses  of  sun  and  moon,  because  the  most  terrible  of  natural 
phenomena  to  peoples  of  the  ancient  world,  were  used  as  heralds  of  the 

39 


2121  ACTS 

Before  the  °day  of  the  Lord  come, 
That  great  and  notable  day: 

21.  And  it  shall  be,  that  whosoever  shall  °call  on  the 

name  of  the  Lord  °shall  be  saved. 

22.  Ye  °men  of  Israel,  hear  these  words :  °Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  a  man  °approved  of  God  unto  you  by 
^mighty  works  and  wonders  and  signs,  which  God  did 

day  of  judgment  (see,  e.g.,  Amos  8 :  9;  Mk.  13  :  24).  Day  of  the 
Lord.  In  Joel  the  approaching  day  of  judgment  on  the  nations. 
The  Hebrew  word  '  Jehovah  '  appears  as  '  Lord  '  in  NT.  quotations 
from  the  O.T.  because  the  Greek  translation  rendered  the  Hebrew 
by  the  equivalent  of  our  word  '  lord  '  (KiJ/otoj). 

21.  Call  on  the  name  of  the  Lord.  As  part  of  the  quotation  from 
Joel  there  can  be  no  question  that  '  Lord  '  refers  to  Jehovah,  as  also 
in  15  :  17.  But  it  is  equally  clear  that  in  some  other  passages  of  Acts 
(three  in  all,  9  :  14,  41;  22  :  16),  calling  on  the  name  of  Christ  is  de- 
scriptive of  Christians.  Shall  be  saved.  The  Greek  word  so  rendered 
has  in  some  instances  {e.g.,  Acts  27  :  31)  the  same  temporal  sense  as 
the  Hebrew  in  Joel.  More  frequently,  however,  it  denotes  the  com- 
plete Messianic  deliverance,  temporal  and  eternal,  physical  and  spirit- 
ual. 

22.  Men  of  Israel.  An  honorable  title,  of  which  the  Jews  were 
rightly  proud.  See  Rom.  9:4;  11  :  i.  Note  the  advance  in  Peter's 
forms  of  address,  —  'Men  of  Judea,'  'Men  of  Israel,' *  brothers  ' 
(vss.  14,  29).  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  There  were  two  designations  of 
Jesus  which  marked  his  origin.  In  one,  found  in  10  :  38;  Matt. 
21  :  n;    Jn.  I  :  45,  the  name  of  the  town  is  used,  and  the  title  reads 

*  Jesus  of  Nazareth.'  But  that  is  not  used  here  in  vs.  22,  and  the 
translation  (R.V.)  is  not  strictly  correct.  The  second  designation 
employed  the  adjective  '  Nazarene  '  (or  Nazaraean),  and  this  with  the 
single  exception  already  noted  is  used  in  Acts  (seven  times).  There 
is  no  reason  to  think  that  the  reproach  which  once  attached  to  the 
word  (see  Jn.  i  :  46)  was  present  in  Peter's  mind.     Approved.    The 

'  same  word  is  translated  in  25  :  7  by  '  prove.'    The  mighty  works  of 

Jesus  showed  and  proved  what  manner  of  man  he  was.  This  proof 
was  from  God,  for  it  was  God  who  wrought  the  mighty  works  through 
the  agency  of  Jesus.  This  is  also  the  teaching  of  Jesus  himself 
{e.g..  Matt.  12  :  28;  Lk.  11  :  20).  Mighty  works,  wonders,  signs. 
These  three  terms  are  not  elsewhere  combined  in  Acts.  '  Wonders 
and   signs '    are   a    common    combination.     The   word    translated 

*  signs '  is  sometimes  found  alone  {e.g.,  4  :  16,  22),  but  not  the  word 
translated    '  wonders.'     The  Greek   for    *  mighty  works '    (R.V.m. 

40 


p 


ACTS  2 :  25 


by  him  in  the  midst  of  you,  even  as  ye  yourselves  know; 

23.  him,  being  dehvered  up  by  the  determinate  ^counsel 
and  fore-knowledge  of  God,  ye  by  the  hand  of  ^lawless 

24.  men  did  °crucify  and  slay  :    °whom  God  raised  up, 
having  loosed  °the  pangs  of  death  :   because  it  was  not 

25.  possible  that  he  should  be  holden  of  it.     For  David 
saith  concerning  him, 

*  powers  0  is  used  only  in  the  plural  in  this  sense.  The  singular 
of  it  denotes  the  inner  power  with  which  the  disciples  were  equipped. 
See  I  :  8.  The  three  terms  are  not  synonymous.  The  first  denotes 
a  miracle  as  a  manifestation  of  power,  the  second  as  that  which  awes, 
and  the  third  as  that  which  points  beyond  itself. 

23.  Counsel  and  fore-knowledge.  The  Greek  word  translated 
'  fore-knowledge  '  is  found  only  here  and  in  i  Pet.  1:2,  while  the  word 
translated  *  counsel,'  and  not  found  in  the  epistle  of  Peter,  is  a  favorite 
of  Luke.  This  fact  suggests  at  least  that  Peter's  speech  was  not  wholly 
unmodified  by  Luke.  The  two  terms  occur  in  Rom.  8  :  29,  but  in- 
verted. This  conclusion  that  the  death  of  Jesus  had  been  divinely 
appointed  had  doubtless  been  reached  by  Peter  in  the  light  of  the 
resurrection  and  by  way  of  the  Old  Testament.  Lawless  men. 
The  Romans  executed  what  the  Jews  planned.  Peter  may  have 
referred  to  the  Romans  in  this  manner  as  men  without  the  law, 
thinking  that  the  appeal  of  the  Jews  to  such  men  heightened 
their  own  guilt.  Crucify  and  slay.  The  first  of  these  words  repre- 
sents a  Greek  term  that  is  found  only  here  in  the  New  Testament  and 
pictures  the  act  of  fastening  Jesus  to  the  cross  ;  the  second  translates 
a  word  very  common  in  Luke  (twenty  times)  but  occurring  only  three 
times  in  the  rest  of  the  New  Testament  (Matt.  2  :  16;  2  Thess.  2: 
8;   Heb.  10  :  g). 

24.  Whom  God  raised  up.  The  resurrection  of  Jesus  is  in  Acts 
always  attributed  to  God  unless  17:3  be  regarded  as  an  exception. 
See  2  :  32;  3  :  26;  13  :  32,  34;  17  :  31.  The  pangs  of  death.  This 
expression  is  found  in  the  Septuagint  version  of  Ps.  18  :  5,  and  is  there 
recognized  as  a  mistranslation  of  the  Hebrew.  The  original  signifies 
'  bands,'  '  cords,'  or  *  net.'  The  psalmist  represents  Death  as  a 
hunter  who  has  thrown  a  net  or  noose  over  him.  The  author  of  Acts, 
or  possibly  his  source,  seems  to  have  thought  of  the  resurrection  as 
birth,  which  was  accompanied  with  pangs.  But  the  word  '  loosed ' 
does  not  suit  this  idea,  nor  is  it  easy  to  think  of  Death  as  bringing 
forth  the  *  prince  of  life.* 

25.  This  quotation  (vss.  25-28)  is  given  exactly  according  to  the 
Septuagint,   unlike  the  former  citation,  which  departed   somewhat 

41 


ACTS 

8  f .  I  beheld  the  Lord  always  before  my  face ; 

For  he  is  on  my  right  hand,  that  I  should  not 
be  moved  : 

26.  Therefore  my  heart  was  glad,   and  my  tongue 

rejoiced ; 
Moreover  my  flesh  also  shall  dwell  in  hope  : 

27.  Because  thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  Hades, 
Neither  wilt  thou  give  thy  °Holy  One  to  see  cor- 
ruption. 

28.  Thou  madest  known  unto  me  the  ways  of  life; 
Thou  shalt  make  me  full   of   gladness  with  thy 

countenance. 

29.  ^Brethren,     I    may    say  unto    you    °freely   of    the 
^patriarch  David,  that  he  both  died  and  was  buried, 

30.  and    his   °tomb   is   with  us   unto  this   day.     Being 


from  the  Greek  translation.  But  the  Septuagint  in  the  present 
passage  has  some  noteworthy  variations  from  the  Hebrew.  Never- 
theless the  main  point  for  which  the  passage  was  quoted,  viz.,  that 
experience  of  God's  goodness  in  the  earthly  life  gives  sure  ground 
for  the  hope  of  resurrection,  is  not  seriously  affected.  What  the 
psalmist  said  concerning  himself,  Peter  applied  to  Jesus.  That  the 
writer  of  the  Psalm  contemplated  the  Messiah  is  not  necessarily  to 
be  inferred  as  Peter's  view  from  the  words  of  vs.  25,  which  introduce 
the  quotation.  The  words  '  David  saith  concerning  him  '  may  signify 
that  in  Peter's  thought  "  David's  experience  did  not  exhaust  the 
meaning  of  the  Psalm." 

27.  Holy  One.  To  write  *  Holy  One  '  with  capitals,  as  is  done  in 
this  place  both  by  R.V.  and  S.V.  (though  S.V.  does  not  use  capitals 
in  the  Psalm),  is  to  confuse  the  text  of  the  Psalm  with  an  interpreta- 
tion of  the  text. 

29.  Brethren.  This  translates  two  Greek  words  in  this  place,  while 
in  3  :  17  it  renders  only  one.  The  Greek  in  the  present  instance  is 
somewhat  more  formal  than  in  3  :  17,  and  might  be  translated  *  Hon- 
orable Brethren.'  Freely;  i.e.,  boldly.  The  boldness  lies  not  in 
saying  that  David  died  and  was  buried  and  saw  corruption ;  but 
in  saying  that  the  words  of  the  psalmist  were  fulfilled  in  the  man 
whom  the  Jews  had  crucified.  Patriarch.  This  term  is  elsewhere 
used  in  the  N.T.  only  of  Abraham  (Heb.  7  :  4)  and  the  twelve  sons  of 

42 


ACTS  2:33 

therefore    a   °prophet,    and  knowing   that    God  had 
sworn  with  an  oath  to  him,  that  of  the  fruit  of  his  loins 

31.  he  would  °set  one  upon  his  throne;   he  ^foreseeing  this 
spake  of  the  resurrection  of  the  Christ,  that  neither  °was 

32.  he  left  in  Hades,  nor  did  his  flesh  see  corruption.     °This 
Jesus  did  God  raise  up,  °whereof  we  all  are  witnesses. 

33.  Being  °therefore  °by  the  right  hand  of  God  exalted,  and 
having  received  of  the  Father  °the  promise  of  the  Holy 


Jacob  (Acts  7  :  8,  9).     It  is  a  term  of  great  respect.     Tomb  is  with  us. 
Comp.  Neh.  3  :  16  (*  sepulchres  of  David  '). 

30.  Prophet.  David  is  nowhere  else  called  a  '  prophet '  in  the 
N.T.,  but  is  even  distinguished  from  the  prophets  in  Heb.  11  :  32. 
Set  one  upon  his  throne;  i.e.,  to  be  the  Messiah.  The  basis  of  the 
promise  for  the  line  of  David  is  in  Samuel  (2  Sam.  7  :  12-16;  3:9), 
but  the  language  of  this  verse  recalls  Ps.  132  :  11. 

31.  Foreseeing.  This  participle  has  the  same  object  as  the  main 
verb,  viz.,  the  resurrection  of  Christ.  We  are  admonished  by  the 
words  of  I  Pet.  i  :  lo-i  i  that  this  '  foreseeing  '  and  '  speaking  of  the 
resurrection '  may  not  have  been  thought  of  by  Peter  as  something 
that  was  clear  and  intelligible  to  David.  Yet  even  with  this  qualifica- 
tion his  view  of  prophecy  —  which  was  that  of  other  Christian  Jews 
of  his  day  —  was  not  that  which  now  prevails  in  the  Church.  "Was 
he  left.  This  change  of  tense  from  the  future  (vs.  26)  to  the  past 
was  probably  caused  by  the  fact  that  the  word  of  the  Psalm  had  al- 
ready been  fulfilled. 

32.  This  Jesus.  The  word  *  this  '  has  reference  to  the  Psalm,  and 
designates  Jesus  as  the  one  who  fulfilled  David's  prophecy.  Whereof. 
This  rendering,  which  is  preferable  to  that  of  the  margin  ('of 
whom  '),  refers  to  the  great  fact  just  asserted,  i.e.,  the  resurrection, 
which  is  the  centre  of  Peter's  argument.    Comp.  i :  22. 

2,2,-  Therefore.  The  heavenly  exaltation  of  Jesus  is  regarded  as 
following  logically  on  the  fact  of  his  resurrection.  By  the  right 
hand  of  God,  The  resurrection  was  by  the  power  of  God  (vs.  32), 
so  also  the  exaltation.  The  reading  of  the  margin,  '  at '  instead  of 
'  by,'  expresses  a  common  N.T.  thought  {e.g.,  Rom.  8  :  34),  yet  is  not 
to  be  adopted,  because  of  the  Greek  preposition.  The  promise.  In 
I  :  4  the  promise  is  for  the  disciples  of  Jesus  ;  here,  in  analogy  with 
Jn.  15  :  26,  it  is  thought  of  as  conferred  upon  Jesus  himself.  Yet 
what  he  receives  is  not /or  himself :  he  already  had  the  Spirit  {e.g., 
10:  38;  Mark  i  :  10);  it  is  for  the  disciples.  The  ultimate  source 
of  the  Spirit  is  the  Father,  as  in  the  prophecy  of  Joel,  but  Peter  thinks 

43 


Ps.  no  :  I 


ACTS 

Ghost,  he  hath  poured  forth  °this,  which  ye  see  and  hear. 

34.  For  David  ascended  not  into  the  heavens  :  but  he  saith 
himself, 

°The  Lord  said  unto  my  Lord,  Sit  thou  °on  my 
right  hand, 

35.  Till  I  make  thine  enemies  the  footstool  of  thy 

feet. 

36.  Let  all  the  house  of  Israel  ^therefore  know  assuredly, 
that  °God  hath  made  him  both  Lord  and  Christ,  this 
Jesus  °whom  ye  crucified. 

of  Christ  as  the  proximate  source  or  as  the  channel.  This,  which  ye 
see  and  hear.  We  can  hardly  suppose  that  Peter  identified  things 
visible  and  audible  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  language  is  popular, 
and  signifies  that  what  they  saw  and  heard  was  the  result  of  the 
Spirit. 

34-35.  Scripture  proof  of  the  Messianic  exaltation  of  Jesus,  which 
at  the  beginning  of  vs.  33  was  regarded  as  the  logical  consequence  of 
the  resurrection.  The  prophet  speaks  of  victory  over  the  enemies  of 
the  king,  and  Peter  may  well  have  seen  in  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit 
and  in  the  consciousness  of  new  power  the  promise  and  potency  of 
a  victory  of  Jesus  over  his  enemies.  The  Lord  said  unto  my  Lord. 
This  quotation  is  from  the  Septuagint  of  Ps.  no  :  i,  which  departs  in 
only  a  single  point  from  the  Hebrew.  This  departure  is  the  dropping 
of  the  proper  noun  *  Jehovah,'  and  the  substituting  for  it  of  a  common 
noun  *  lord.'  This  is  Septuagint  usage  everywhere,  but  it  is  especially 
unfortunate  in  this  place.  —  As  no  king  filled  out  the  conceptions  of  the 
Psalm,  it  early  came  to  be  regarded  as  Messianic.  SeeMk.  12  :35; 
Heb.  I  :  13;  5  :  6;  7  :  17,  21 ;  10  :  14.  On  my  right  hand.  The 
place  of  honor.  Jehovah  will  see  that  the  foes  of  his  king  are  over- 
thrown. 

36.  Therefore.  Peter  here  draws  his  conclusion  from  the  various 
passages  of  Scripture  which  he  has  cited.  God  hath  made  him  both 
Lord  and  Christ.  In  vs.  22  it  was  God  who  wrought  mighty  works  by 
Jesus;  in  vs.  24  and  32  it  was  God  who  raised  him  from  the  dead;  and 
in  vs.  33  it  was  God  who  exalted  him  and  gave  him  the  promised  Spirit. 
Therefore,  Peter  argues,  God  made  him  '  Lord,'  that  is,  the  greater 
king  whom  the  words  of  the  ancient  psalmist  had  foreshadowed,  and 
made  him  '  Christ.'  Whom  ye  crucified.  Peter's  audience  belonged 
to  the  Jewish  people,  and  therefore  were  in  some  degree  responsible 
for  the  act  of  the  leaders.  This  accusation  made  to  a  heterogeneous 
multitude  in  the  streets  of  Jerusalem  only  six  weeks  after  the  cruci- 

44 


ACTS  2:38 

37.  Now  when  they  heard  this,  they  were  °pricked  in 
their  heart,  and  said  unto  Peter  and  the  rest  of  the 

38.  apostles,  Brethren,  what  shall  we  do  ?    And  Peter  said 

tunto  them,  °Repent  ye,  and  °be  baptized  every  one  of 
you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  °unto  the  remission  of 
your  sins ;   and  °ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy 

fixion  of  Jesus  is  proof  that  Peter  had  gone  through  some  profound 
experience  since  his  thrice-repeated  denial  of  his  master.  It  is  proof 
that  there  was  a  spiritual  reality  in  the  mysterious  event  described  in 
vss.  2-4. 

37.  Pricked  in  their  heart.  This  inner  effect  might  safely  be 
inferred  from  their  question,  *  What  shall  we  do  ? '  This  question 
implies  that  they  admitted  the  justice  of  Peter's  accusation,  and 
recognized  that  they  were  indeed  in  a  measure  guilty  in  regard  to 
Jesus,  and  therefore  in  danger  of  punishment  at  the  approaching  Day 
of  Judgment.  Otherwise  their  personal  anxiety  would  be  unintelli- 
gible. 

38.  Repent  ye.  So  far  Peter  followed  the  example  of  the  Baptist 
and  of  Jesus  (Mark  1:4,  15).  His  experience  with  them  would  not 
allow  him  to  think  of  anything  but  repentance  as  the  first  step  into  the 
new  life.  Be  baptized  in  the  name  of  Jesus.  Here  Peter  departed 
from  the  Baptist,  for  his  baptism  was  not  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  and 
Jesus  had  not  himself  baptized  nor  taught  that  baptism  should  be  in 
his  name  (Matt.  28  :  19  reflects  Christian  ideas  at  the  close  of  the  first 
century).  The  great  step  of  the  apostle  was  followed  throughout 
the  apostolic  age.  Though  great,  this  step  was  natural,  if  not 
inevitable.  If  it  was  natural  for  Paul  to  say  that  Israel  was  baptized 
unto  Moses  in  the  Red  Sea  and  in  the  cloud  (i  Cor.  10  :  2),  much  more 
might  Peter  conclude  that  the  rite  of  admission  among  the  followers 
of  the  Messiah  should  be  performed  in  the  name  of  the  Messiah. 
How  the  name  of  Jesus  was  used  in  the  rite  of  baptism  at  Pentecost 
or  in  subsequent  N.T.  times  we  do  not  know ;  but  that  baptism  in 
the  name  of  Jesus  was  understood  to  involve  devotion  to  him  and 
his  kingdom  cannot  be  doubted.  Unto  the  remission  of  your  sins. 
The  association  of  forgiveness  with  baptism  was  a  part  of  John's 
message  (Mk.  i  :  4;  Lk.  3  :  3).  In  the  teaching  and  practice  of  Jesus 
forgiveness  was  associated  with  the  acceptance  of  himself  {e.g.,  Mk. 
2:5,  10 ;  Lk.  7  :  47),  though  it  was  his  habit  to  speak  of  forgiveness 
as  coming  directly  from  God  in  response  to  repentance  (see,  e.g.,  Mk. 
II  :  25;  Matt.  6  :  12,  14;  18:35).  Remission  of  sins  is  regarded  by 
Peter  as  following  on  repentance  and  baptism  into  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Nothing  is  directly  said  of  the  death  of  Jesus.  Ye  shall 
receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.      Peter  makes  no   distinction 

45 


ACTS 

39.  Ghost.  For  to  you  is  the  promise,  and  to  your  chil- 
dren, and  °to  all  that  are  afar  off,  even  as  many  as  the 

40.  Lord  our  God  shall  call  unto  him.  And  with  many 
other  words  he  testified,  and  exhorted  them,  saying, 

41.  Save  yourselves  from  this  °crooked  generation.  They 
then  that  received  his  word  °were  baptized :  and 
there  were  added  unto  them  in  that  day  °about  three 
thousand  souls. 

Internal  state  of  the  earliest  Christian  community ,  2 :  42-47 

42.  And  they  continued  stedfastly  in  the  ^apostles'  teaching 
and  fellowship,  in  °the  breaking  of  bread  and  °the 
prayers. 

between  the  apostles  and   his   penitent   hearers  in  the   matter  of 
receiving  this  gift. 

39.  To  all  that  are  afar  off.  Some  scholars  limit  these  words 
to  the  Jews  of  the  Dispersion,  others  regard  them  as  descriptive  of 
the  Gentiles.  The  language  of  Paul  favors  the  latter  view 
(Eph.  2  :  17),  the  situation  itself  the  former.  For  Peter  was  ad- 
dressing Jews,  many  of  them  Jews  from  afar,  but  there  seems  to  be 
no  clear  reason  why  he  should  turn  aside  to  speak  of  the  Gentiles. 
It  is,  however,  to  be  remembered  that  the  OT.  promise  repeatedly 
contemplates  the  Gentile  world,  only  the  Jews  of  later  times  thought 
that  the  Gentiles  could  not  share  this  blessing  until  they  should  accept 
the  law  and  become  circumcised. 

40.  Crooked.  This  figurative  term  —  a  synonym  of  *  sinful '  — 
is  found  also  in  i  Pet.  2  :  18,  but  only  once  in  the  rest  of  the  N.T., 
if  we  except  Lk.  3  :  5  where  it  occurs  in  a  quotation. 

41.  Were  baptized.  By  whom  or  with  what  particular  rite  we  are 
not  told.  We  are  certain  only  that  their  baptism  was  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ.  About  three  thousand  souls.  The  Greek  word 
translated  '  about '  is  a  favorite  of  Luke  (sixteen  times,  six  in  the 
rest  of  the  N.T.),  but  is  not  used  in  statements  based  on  his  own 
personal  acquaintance  with  facts.  In  seeing  such  a  multitude  turn 
to  Jesus  Peter  saw  the  fulfilment  of  the  Master's  word  in  Mk.  9:1. 
Comp.  Jn.  14  :  12. 

42.  Though  the  conversion  of  a  multitude  was  sudden,  Luke  shows 
in  this  and  the  following  verses  that  it  was  genuine.  The  converts 
gave  attention  to  the  teaching  of  the  apostles  —  mentioned  here  for 

46 


ACTS  2:45 

43.  And  °fear  came  upon  °every  soul :   and  many  won- 

44.  ders  and  signs  were  done    °by  the   apostles.       And 
all    that    °believed    were     ^together,    and     °had    all 

45.  things  common;    and  they  °sold  their  possessions  and 

the  first  time  and  undefined,  but  probably  concerned  with  the  great 
facts  in  the  life  and  teaching  of  Jesus.  They  also  cultivated  fdlow- 
ship,  as  sharing  the  same  hopes.  Comp.  Phil.  2:1.  The  breaking  of 
bread.  The  Greek  noun  translated  *  breaking  '  is  used  only  here  and  in 
Lk.  24  :  35.  The  kindred  verb  is  used  by  the  synoptists  in  connection 
with  the  two  miracles  of  feeding  and  in  the  Lord's  Supper  ;  also  by 
Paul  in  First  Corinthians.  Luke  uses  the  word  once  where  the 
thought  of  the  Lord's  Supper  is  excluded  (Acts  27  :  35).  In  Acts 
20 :  7  the  Lord's  Supper  is  meant,  but  need  not  be  understood  ex- 
clusively. It  may  have  been,  as  in  i  Cor.  11  ;  17-22,  a  social  meal 
that  concluded  with  the  memorial  observance.  In  the  present  pas- 
sage, since  the  breaking  of  bread  is  mentioned  with  other  distinctly 
religious  and  ethical  activities,  we  understand  it  as  at  least  including 
the  Lord's  Supper,  though  not  necessarily  coextensive  with  that  rite. 
The  prayers.  This  expression  is  not  to  be  restricted  to  the  worship 
in  the  temple,  though  that  is  probably  included  (see  3:1),  but,  in 
line  with  i  :  14  and  i  :  15,  we  are  to  think  of  the  meeting  of  the  dis- 
ciples by  themselves. 

43.  Fear.  The  writer  probably  thought  of  this  *  fear '  or  awe  as 
occasioned  by  the  supernatural  manifestation  at  Pentecost.  Every 
soul.  It  is  not  necessary  to  limit  this  to  the  non-believers.  Comp. 
Acts  5:11.  By  the  apostles.  The  translation  '  through '  (R.V.m.)  is 
more  in  accord  with  the  general  statement  concerning  the  miracles 
of  Jesus  (vs.  22),  also  with  3  :  12-13;  ^4'  3'>   a^^d  15  :  12. 

44.  Believed.  *  All  that  believed '  is  a  brief  designation  of  the 
Christian  community,  and  more  unique  than  'brethren'  (1:15). 
The  word  is  used  absolutely,  without  object  (so  also  in  4 :  32,  etc.), 
which,  however,  the  preceding  verse  easily  supplies.  Comp.  11  :  17. 
They  believed  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ.  Were  together.  This 
means  that  meeting  together  and  having  fellowship  with  each  other 
(vs.  42)  characterized  believers,  not  that,  shutting  their  own  homes, 
they  all  abode  together  in  one  building.  The  Galilean  disciples  and 
possibly  some  Hellenistic  Jews  who  had  no  home  in  Jerusalem  may 
have  had  common  lodgings,  though  this  verse  does  not  require  us  to 
think  so.  Had  all  things  common.  This  is  a  concrete  illustration 
of  the  'fellowship'  to  which  they  gave  attention  (vs.  42).  Of  its 
nature  and  limitations  we  learn  something  in  the  next  verse.  See 
note  3,  Appendix. 

45.  Sold  their  possessions  and  goods.  The  imperfect  tense  indi- 
cates that  sales  were  made  from  time  to  time.     One  and  another, 

47 


ACTS 

goods,  and  ^parted  them  to  all,  according  as  any  man 

46.  had  need.  And  day  by  day,  continuing  stedfastly 
with  one  accord  °in  the  temple,  and  breaking  bread  °at 
home,  they  °did  take  their  food  with  gladness  and  °single- 

47.  ness  of  heart,  praising  God,  and  having  °favour  with 
all  the  people.  And  °the  Lord  added  to  them  day  by 
day  those  that  were  being  saved. 

Peter^s  first  sign  and  the  address  it  occasioned ^  3 :  1-26 

3.       Now  °Peter  and  John  were  going  up  into  the  temple 
2.   at  °the  hour  of  prayer,  being  the  ninth  hour.    And  a 

as  the  need  of  the  brotherhood  required,  was  moved  to  dispose  of 
property.  Parted  them  to  all.  It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  this  dis- 
tribution was  already  made,  as  it  was  a  little  later  (see  6 :  2),  under 
the  direction  of  the  apostles  or  by  their  hands. 

46.  In  the  temple.  They  were  there  for  worship  (see  3  :  i),  and 
probably  also,  even  from  the  beginning,  for  witness,  as  they  are  said 
to  have  been  only  a  little  later  than  the  present  chapter.  See  4:1; 
5  :  21,  42.  At  home.  This  stands  over  against  the  temple  (comp. 
5  :  42),  but  the  expression  does  not  necessarily  turn  our  thought  to  one 
place.  Did  take  their  food.  This  statement  should  be  understood  meta- 
phorically, as  '  walking '  is  used  by  Paul.  It  is  a  part  for  the  whole. 
It  would  be  remarkable  if,  in  Luke's  glowing  picture  of  the  state  of 
the  first  Christian  community,  the  central  affirmation  were  simply 
that  they  ate  with  gladness.  Singleness.  The  Greek  word  so  trans- 
lated means,  etymologically,  *  smoothness,'  and  may  therefore  be  taken 
in  the  secondary  sense  either  of  *  simplicity  '  or  *  serenity.'  Favour 
with  all  the  people.  Not  because  of  their  faithfulness  to  the  temple,  for 
the  scribes  were  also  faithful  there,  nor  because  of  the  breaking  of 
bread,  for  that  was  private,  nor,  finally,  because  of  their  habit  of  praise; 
but  rather  because  of  the  spirit  of  gladness  and  serenity  that  per- 
vaded their  lives.  The  Lord  added.  If  vs.  36  would  lead  us  to  take 
*  Lord '  here  as  referring  to  Christ,  vs.  39  would  with  equal  force  point 
us  to  Jehovah  as  the  one  who,  in  the  thought  of  the  writer,  added 
new  members  to  the  Christian  community.  In  5  :  14  and  11  :  24  the 
agency  is  left  entirely  undefined. 

I.  This  is  the  first  of  three  specific  mighty  works  assigned  to  Peter 
in  Acts.  It  is  probably  not  introduced  for  its  own  sake,  but  simply 
because  of  what  grew  out  of  it.  Peter  and  John.  It  is  note- 
worthy that  the  three  apostles  whom  Jesus  on  various  occasions  singled 

48 


ACTS  3  ••  6 

certain  man  that  was  °lame  from  his  mother's  womb 
was  carried,  whom  they  laid  daily  at  the  door  of  the 
temple  which  is  called  °Beautiful,  to  ask  alms  of  them 

3.  that  entered  into  the  temple.  Who  seeing  Peter  and 
John  about  to  go  into  the  temple,  asked  to  receive  an 

4.  alms.     And  Peter,  ^fastening  his  eyes  upon  him,  with 

5.  John,  said,  °Look  on  us.     And  he  gave  heed  unto  them, 

6.  expecting  to  receive  something  from  them.  But  Peter 
said,  Silver  and  gold  have  I  none;  but  °what  I  have 
that  give  I  thee.     °In  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  of 


out  to  be  with  him  (Peter,  James,  and  John)  are  the  only  ones  who  are 
mentioned  by  name  in  Acts  apart  from  the  list  in  Chapter  i.  John 
appears  at  Peter's  side  on  the  present  occasion,  but  neither  here  nor 
elsewhere  in  Acts,  except  in  4  :  19,  is  any  specific  activity  assigned  to 
him.  The  hour  of  prayer.  It  is  mentioned  as  though  it  was  the  chief 
prayer-hour.  No  other  is  mentioned  in  Acts.  At  the  ninth  hour, 
three  in  the  afternoon,  the  evening  sacrifice  was  offered.  The  early 
Christians  were  Jews  in  good  standing. 

2.  Lame.  The  cure  of  lameness  is  ascribed  to  Jesus  (e.g.,  Matt. 
II  :  5),  to  Philip  and  Paul  in  Acts  as  well  as  to  Peter  (8:7;  14  :  8). 
Here,  as  in  the  case  of  the  lame  man  whom  Paul  healed,  the  lameness 
was  congenital.  Beautiful.  The  location  of  this  door  is  unknown.  In 
21  :  30,  the  only  other  N.T.  passage  where  temple-doors  are  mentioned, 
it  is  evident  that  the  reference  is  to  some  door  of  the  sanctuary  itself, 
not  to  one  of  the  great  gates  which  admitted  into  the  temple  court. 
Possibly  then  we  may  suppose  that  the  '  beautiful '  door  was  the  main 
eastern  entrance  by  which  one  came  into  the  Court  of  the  Women. 

3.  Fastening  his  eyes  upon  him.  In  the  parallel  case,  14  :  9» 
the  narrator  explains  the  scrutinizing  look  as  designed  to  discover 
whether  the  man  had  faith.  Look  on  us.  The  reason  of  this  com- 
mand may  have  been  to  secure  the  entire  attention  of  the  man,  pos- 
sibly also  to  make  him  expectant.  At  any  rate,  it  seemed  to  have 
just  these  effects  (see  vs.  5). 

6.  What  I  have.  These  words  express  Peter's  assurance  of  being 
able  to  help  the  man.  He  was  conscious,  not  indeed  of  possessing 
any  miraculous  power  in  himself  (see  vs.  12),  but  of  being  the  servant 
of  a  wonder-working  God.  In  the  name  of  Jesus.  What  Peter 
meant  by  these  words  we  learn  from  vs.  16.  He  there  asserts 
that  the  cripple  had  faith  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  that  this  '  name ' 
made  him  strong.     Accordingly  the  words  '  walk  in  the  name  of 

E  49 


ACTS 

7.  Nazareth,  walk.  And  he  °took  him  by  the  right  hand, 
and  raised  him  up:   and  immediately  his  °feet  and  his 

8.  ankle-bones  received  strength.  And  leaping  up,  he 
stood,  and  began  to  walk;  and  he  entered  with  them 
into  the  temple,  walking,  and   leaping,  and  °praising 

9.  God.    And  all  the  people  saw  him  walking  and  praising 

10.  God  :  and  they  took  knowledge  of  him,  that  it  was  he 
which  sat  for  alms  at  the  Beautiful  Gate  of  the  temple  : 
and  they  were  filled  with  wonder  and  amazement  at 
that  which  had  happened  unto  him. 

11.  And  as  he  held  Peter  and  John,  all  the  people  ran 
together  unto  them  in  the  °porch  that  is  called  Sol- 

12.  omon's,  greatly  wondering.  And  when  Peter  saw 
it,  he  answered  unto  the  people,  Ye  men  of  Israel,  °why 
marvel  ye  at  this  man  ?  or  why  fasten  ye  your  eyes  on 
us,  as  though  °by  our  own  power  or  godliness  we  had 


Jesus '  signify  to  walk  trusting  in  the  power  of  that  name.  Thus  in 
Peter's  words  there  was  an  appeal  to  the  man  to  exercise  faith.  Ac- 
cording to  the  punctuation  of  R.V.,  the  interpretation  of  the  clause 
would  be  dififerent.  We  should  then  have  to  connect  the  clause 
'  in  the  name  of  Jesus  '  with  some  verb  to  be  understood  like  *  I  charge 
thee.' 

7.  Took  him  by  the  right  hand.  He  treated  the  man  as  he  had  seen 
his  wife's  mother  treated  by  Jesus  (Mk.  i  :  30).  He  commanded 
the  man  to  walk,  and  then  helped  him  to  fulfil  the  command.  Feet 
and  ankle-bones.  These  words  are  found  only  here  in  the  N.T. 
Their  specification  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  the  author  was  a 
physician. 

8.  Praising  God.  The  healed  man  was  in  no  doubt  as  to  the 
source  of  his  healing.  Though  he  might  cling  to  Peter  and  John  as 
the  men  who  had  brought  him  help  (vs.  11),  he  knew  that  they  were 
not  the  ultimate  source  of  it.    Comp.  14  :  9-1 1. 

11.  Solomon's  Porch,  A  cloister  or  colonnade  on  the  east  side 
of  the  great  temple  area,  where  Jesus  sometimes  taught  (Jn.  10  :  23) 
and  which  appears  to  have  been  the  favorite  meeting-place  of  the 
disciples  in  the  first  days  of  the  Church  (see  5  :  12), 

12.  Why  marvel  ye  at  this  man?  In  Peter's  thought,  what  had 
taken  place  did  not  warrant  their  great  amazement.     It  was  rather 

SO 


ACTS  3 :  i6 

13.  made  him  to  walk?  °The  God  of  Abraham,  and  of 
Isaac,  and  of  Jacob,  the  God  of  our  fathers,  °hath 
glorified  °his  Servant  Jesus;  °whom  ye  deHvered  up, 
and  denied  before  the  face  of  Pilate,  when  he  had  deter- 

14.  mined  to  release  him.  But  ye  denied  °the  Holy  and 
Righteous  One,  and  asked  for  a  murderer  to  be  granted 

15.  unto  you,  and  killed  the  °Prince  of  life;    whom  God 

16.  raised  from  the  dead;  whereof  we  are  witnesses.    And 

a  matter  of  course.  By  our  own  power  or  godliness.  The  *  power  * 
was  that  of  i  :  8,  not  their  '  own,'  though  they  possessed  it  (see  vs.  6). 
Neither  was  the  miracle  due  to  any  peculiar  piety  of  the  apostles 
which  might,  as  it  were,  have  earned  from  God  this  wondrous  display 
of  power. 

13.  The  God  of  Abraham,  etc.  The  language  of  the  famous  pas- 
sage Ex.  3  :  6.  Peter  traces  the  miracle  not  to  any  new  or  strange 
power,  but  to  the  covenant  God  of  his  hearers.  Hath  glorified. 
The  healing  of  the  cripple  had  been  '  in  the  name  of  Jesus,'  and 
so  had  glorified  him.  His  Servant  Jesus.  No  other  N.T.  writer  calls 
Jesus  "  servant  "  except  as  Matthew  once  applies  to  him  an  O.T. 
quotation  which  contains  the  word.  Matt.  12:18.  It  is  probable 
that  the  usage  was  based  on  Isaiah  (see,  e.g.,  42 :  i;  43  :  10),  and  ex- 
pressed the  conviction  of  the  early  Church  that  what  was  said  of 
the  '  servant  of  Jehovah '  in  the  O.T.  was  fulfilled  in  Jesus  Christ. 
Whom  ye  delivered  up.  Peter  contrasts  God's  treatment  of  Jesus 
and  his  treatment  by  the  Jews. 

14.  This  verse  explains  what  was  meant  by  the  '  denial  '  before 
Pilate,  viz.  the  refusal  to  ask  for  the  release  of  Jesus  (Matt.  27  :  17, 
20).  The  wickedness  of  the  Jews  is  emphasized  by  the  fact  that  they 
asked  the  release  of  one  who  took  the  lives  of  others  and  killed  that 
one  who  gives  life.  The  Holy  and  Righteous  One.  The  prophets 
are  called  *  the  holy  prophets  '  (3:21)  and  the  centurion  Cornelius 
is  called  a  'righteous'  man  (10  :  22).  Jesus,  however,  is  designated 
as  uniquely  holy  and  righteous  —  the  holy  and  righteous  one.  These 
terms  mark  one  side  of  his  character  and  life.  Comp.  what  Peter 
says  in  10  :  38. 

15.  Prince  of  life;  i.e.,  the  one  who,  full  of  life  himself,  leads 
others  into  life.  The  sense  of  '  author  '  does  not  harmonize  with  the 
words  that  immediately  follow.  Had  Peter  thought  of  Jesus  as  the 
ultimate  author  of  life,  we  should  expect  that  he  would  have  ascribed 
the  resurrection  of  Jesus  to  Jesus  himself.  Jesus  is  the  very  embodi- 
ment of  faith  and  life,  and  so  in  a  true  sense  the  author  of  faith  and  life 
in  others,  yet  not  their  ultimate  source  (comp.  Jn.  5  :  26;  6  :  35,  63). 

51 


17  ACTS 

by  °faith  in  his  name  hath  his  name  made  this  man 
strong,  whom  ye  behold  and  know :  yea,  the  faith  which 
is  through  him  hath  given  him  this  perfect  soundness 

17.  in  the  presence  of  you  all.  And  now,  brethren,  I  wot 
that  °in  ignorance  ye  did  it,  as  did  also  your  rulers. 

18.  But  the  things  which  God  foreshewed  by  the  mouth 
of  all  the  prophets,  that  his  Christ  should  suffer,  he 

19.  thus  fulfilled.  Repent  ye  ^therefore,  and  turn  again, 
that  your  sins  may  be  blotted  out,  that  so  there  may 
come  ^seasons  of  refreshing  from  the  presence  of  the 

20.  Lord;  and  that  he  may  °send  the  Christ  who  hath  been 


16.  Faith  in  the  name  of  Jesus  is  faith  in  what  the  name  represents, 
the  gracious  and  loving  character  of  Jesus  and  his  power  as  Christ 
to  execute  the  will  of  God. 

17.  In  ignorance.  Peter's  word  echoes  Lk.  23  :  34.  The  Jewish 
people  were  ignorant  of  the  character  of  Jesus,  of  his  divine  fitness  to 
be  their  deliverer.  Peter's  confidence  that  this  was  the  case  rested  on 
his  own  personal  knowledge.  The  '  rulers '  are  here  particularly  men- 
tfoned  because  they  were  more  directly  responsible  for  the  death  of 
Jesus  than  were  the  common  people.    Comp.  i  Tim.  i  :  13. 

18.  This  verse  marks  an  advance  on  the  thought  in  2  :  23.  The 
death  of  Jesus  was  not  only  by  the  counsel  of  God,  but  that  counsel 
had  been  made  known  through  the  prophets.  This  same  thought  is 
ascribed  to  Jesus  in  Lk.  24  :  46.  It  is  noteworthy  that  when  Jesus, 
toward  the  close  of  his  ministry,  began  to  teach  the  apostles  concerning 
his  death,  Peter  rebuked  him  (Mk.  8  :  32),  and  none  of  them  under- 
stood his  saying  about  the  necessity  of  his  death  (Mk.  9:32).  At 
that  time  neither  Peter  nor  other  Jews  found  the  death  of  the  Messiah 
in  the  O.T. ;  now  Peter  sees  it  in  '  all '  the  prophets.  Thus  the  O.T. 
was  becoming  a  new  book  to  the  disciples. 

19.  Therefore.  The  call  to  repent  is  made  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
they  had  acted  in  ignorance,  and  also  in  view  of  the  fact  that  a  divine 
purpose  had  been  fulfilled  in  the  death  of  Jesus.  Seasons  of  refresh- 
ing. This  expression,  found  only  here  in  the  N.T.,  denotes,  if  we  define 
it  by  the  two  following  verses,  as  we  probably  should  do,  the  times 
of  the  Messianic  fulfilment. 

20.  Send  the  Christ.  The  time  of  the  sending  is  indicated  in  the 
following  verse.  Appointed  for  you.  This  statement  is  most  naturally 
explained  as  based  on  the  life  and  work  of  Jesus.  It  was  thence  that 
Peter  knew  his  '  appointment.' 

S3 


ACTS  3 :  24 

21.  ^appointed  for  you,  even  Jesus :  whom  the  heaven  must 
receive  until  the  times  of  °restoration  of  all  things, 
whereof  God  spake  by  the  mouth  of  his  holy  prophets 

22.  which  have  been  since  the  world  began.  Moses  indeed 
said,  °A  prophet  shall  the  Lord  God  raise  up  unto  you 
from  among  your  brethren,  like  unto  me;  to  him 
shall  ye  hearken  in  all  things  whatsoever  he  shall  speak 

23.  unto  you.  And  it  shall  be,  that  every  soul,  which  shall 
not  hearken  to  that  prophet,  shall  be  utterly  destroyed 

24.  from  among  the  people.     Yea  and  °all  the  prophets 

21.  Restoration  of  all  things.  The  O.T.  closes  with  a  prophecy  of  a 
moral  restoration,  brought  about  by  another  Elijah,  prior  to  the  great 
day  of  Jehovah's  judgment  (Mai.  4 :  5-6).  The  scribes  in  the  time 
of  Jesus  taught  that  Elijah  should  precede  the  Messiah  and  restore 
all  things  (Matt.  17  :  11).  Jesus  saw  in  John  the  Baptist  a  fulfilment 
of  Malachi's  word  (Mk.  9:  13;  Matt.  17:  12-13),  but  not  such  a 
fulfilment  as  the  scribes  anticipated.  The  Baptist  did  not  *  restore ' 
all  things;  on  the  contrary,  he  met  with  great  opposition  and  was  put 
to  death.  Yet  he  was  a  restorer  in  the  sense  of  Malachi's  prophecy. 
Jesus  continued  the  work  of  restoration,  the  work  of  preparation  for 
the  *  day  of  Jehovah.'  Accordingly  the  *  times  of  the  restoration  of 
all  things  '  may  describe  the  present  period,  at  the  close  of  which,  in 
Peter's  thought,  the  Christ  will  be  sent  again. 

22-24.  These  verses  are  a  practical  illustration  and  expansion  of 
the  statement  at  the  close  of  vs.  21.  The  quotation  from  Moses  is 
not  an  exact  citation  of  any  passage  in  the  Pentateuch,  but  is  in  the 
main  from  Dt.  18  :  15  with  a  free  adaptation  of  the  thought  of  the 
four  subsequent  verses.  It  shows  the  influence  of  the  Septuagint, 
especially  the  first  half  of  vs.  22.  The  promised  prophet  is  to  be  like 
Moses  (so  the  Hebrew),  or  his  raising  up,  that  is,  his  providential 
appearance,  is  to  be  like  that  of  Moses  (so  the  Septuagint  and  R.V.m.). 
As  Moses  was  a  restorer,  bringing  the  children  of  Israel  back  to  Canaan, 
so  Christ  is  a  restorer.  The  citation  from  Deuteronomy  lays  stress 
on  obedience  to  the  prophet.  And  Peter  probably  thought  of  obe- 
dience to  Christ  as  the  way  of  the  *  restoration  of  all  things.'  A 
prophet.  In  Jn.  8 :  40,  41  we  learn  that  some  people  at  least 
referred  Dt.  18:15  not  to  the  Messiah  but  rather  to  some  conspicuous 
forerunner  of  the  Messiah.  This  conception  of  Christ  as  a  *  prophet ' 
raised  up  from  among  his  brethren  is  not  one  that  a  writer  late  in  the 
first  century  would  have  been  likely  to  invent  and  ascribe  to  Peter. 

24.   All  the  prophets  from  Samuel.    Moses  indeed  was  a  prophet 


ACTS 

^^  from  Samuel  and  them  that  followed  after,  as  many  as 

25.  have  spoken,  they  also  told  of  °these  days.  Ye  are 
the  °sons  of  the  prophets,  and  of  the  covenant  which  God 
made  with  your  fathers,  saying  unto  Abraham,  And 
°in  thy  seed  shall  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed. 

26.  Unto  °you  first  God,  °having  raised  up  his  Servant, 
sent  him  °to  bless  you,  in  turning  away  every  one  of  you 
from  your  iniquities. 

The  arrest  and  release  of  the  Apostles,  4:1-31 

4.       And  °as  they  spake  unto  the  people,  °  ^  the  priests  and 
the  °captain  of  the  temple  and  the  °Sadducees  °came 

»  chief  priests 


(Dt.  34  :  10),  but  Samuel  was  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  prophetic 
order.  Comp.  Acts  13  :  20.  These  days.  It  appears  that  Peter,  in 
speaking  thus,  thought  of  the  period  of  '  restoration '  as  including  the 
present. 

25.  Sons  of  the  prophets.  That  is,  heirs  of  the  promises  which  the 
prophets  spoke.  Comp.  2  :  38.  In  like  manner,  *  sons  of  the  cove- 
nant '  are  those  who  inherit  its  privileges  and  obligations.  In  thy 
seed.  The  covenant  promise  is  here  quoted  with  reference  to  the 
Jews,  though  it  included  all  the  '  nations  '  (Gen.  22  :  18).  Peter's 
hearers  were  Jews,  and  it  was  for  their  encouragement  that  he  cited 
the  words  of  the  covenant.  If,  then,  they  are  the  '  seed '  of  Abraham, 
all  the  families  of  the  earth  are  to  be  blessed  in  them,  which  means  that 
they  are  called  to  be  the  special  channel  of  God's  blessing  to  men, 
notably  of  the  Messianic  blessing.  But  if  they  are  to  communicate 
it  to  all  nations,  they  must,  of  course,  first  receive  it  for  themselves. 
If,  however,  the  word  *  seed  '  refers  to  the  Messiah  (so  Gal.  3  :  16), 
then  Peter  is  reminding  his  hearers  that  they,  as  one  of  the  *  families' 
of  the  earth,  are  entitled  to  this  supreme  blessing. 

26.  You  first.  This  thought  is  occasioned  by  the  form  of  the  prom- 
ise. The  blessing  is  for  all  the  families  of  the  earth,  but  first  for 
the  Jews.  This  was  also  the  doctrine  of  Paul  {e.g.,  Rom.  i  :  16). 
A  basis  for  the  doctrine  was  to  be  found  both  in  the  example  and  the 
words  of  Jesus  {e.g.,  Matt.  10  :  <,-6;  15  :  24).  Having  raised  up  his 
servant.     Agreeably  with  the  promise  in  vs.  22,  this  refers  not  to 

54 


ACTS  4:3 

2.  upon  them,  being  °sore  troubled  because  they  taught 
the  people,  and  ^proclaimed  in  Jesus  the  resurrection 

3.  from  the  dead.    And  they  laid  hands  on  them,  and  put 

the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  but  to  his  historical  appearance.  To  bless 
you.  Peter  interprets  the  blessing  promised  to  Abraham  as  consisting, 
first  and  fundamentally,  in  a  turning  from  iniquities.  While  Jesus 
lived,  and  even  after  the  resurrection  {e.g.,  i  :  8),  the  apostles'  concep- 
tion of  the  Messianic  blessing  vi^as  largely  materialistic;  but  a  great 
change  had  come  to  their  views  in  the  last  ievf  days  or  weeks. 

1.  As  they  spake.  From  this  plural  it  appears  possible  that  both 
Peter  and  John  were  speaking  to  different  circles  at  the  same  time, 
though  only  the  words  of  Peter  are  preserved.  The  priests.  The 
marginal  reading  *  chief  priests '  accords  better  with  the  usage  of  Acts, 
for  while  '  priests '  are  mentioned  only  once  {i.e.,  aside  from  this  pas- 
sage), *  chief  priests'  are  mentioned  ten  times.  If  we  read  'chief 
priests,'  then,  since  only  one  held  the  office  at  a  time,  the  plural  must 
be  understood  as  including  ex-high-priests  (see  Jew.  War,  VI,  2.  2),  or, 
more  broadly,  as  including  the  leading  members  of  the  high  priestly 
families.  See  vs.  6.  Captain  of  the  temple.  This  title  is  peculiar  to 
Luke,  and  with  one  exception  (5  :  26)  it  is  always  coupled  with  the 
office  of  high  priest,  usually  following  that.  The  officer  denoted  was 
head  of  the  temple  police  force  who  had  the  large  task  of  preserving 
order  and  of  securing  the  observance  of  various  statutes,  as,  e.g.,  those 
regarding  the  presence  of  Gentiles  in  the  courts  of  the  temple.  The 
Sadducees.  In  view  of  vs.  6  and  5  :  17  it  seems  that  Luke  regarded 
the  high  priestly  families  as  being,  in  good  part  at  least,  Sadducees. 
Comp.  Ant.  XX,  9.  i.  In  the  present  verse,  then,  the  '  Sadducees '  are 
not  contrasted  with  the  '  chief  priests.'  Came  upon  them.  The 
Greek  word  here  employed  is  a  favorite  of  Luke  (eighteen  times, 
twice  in  the  rest  of  the  N.T.).  It  is  used  of  sudden,  unexpected  ap- 
pearances, as  those  of  angels  and  other  supernatural  beings  {e.g.y 
Lk.  2:9;  Acts  23  :  11),  and  there  is  also  frequently  associated  with 
it  the  idea  of  violence  {e.g.,  6:12;    17  :  5). 

2.  Sore  troubled.  All  the  common  people  were  favorable  toward 
them  (2  :  47),  but  not  the  leaders.  So,  in  general,  had  it  been  in  the 
case  of  Jesus.  The  causes  of  their  dissatisfaction  were  (i)  that  the 
disciples  were  assuming  to  be  teachers  of  the  people  (comp.  2  :  42), 
and  (2)  that  they  proclaimed  the  resurrection.  This  latter  point 
made  them  especially  offensive  to  the  Sadducees  (comp.  23  :  8).  Pro- 
claimed in  Jesus.  It  is  uncertain  whether  these  words  mean  that  the 
apostles  proclaimed  the  doctrine  of  resurrection  on  the  basis  of  the 
resurrection  of  Jesus,  or  that,  acting  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  they  pro- 
claimed the  doctrine.  The  book  does  not  elsewhere  speak  of 
activity  as  being  *  in  Jesus.' 

55 


ACTS 

them  °in  ward  unto  the  morrow  :  for  it  was  °now  even- 

4.  tide.  But  many  of  them  that  heard  °the  word  °be- 
lieved;  and  the  number  °of  the  men  came  to  be  °about 
five  thousand. 

5.  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  morrow,  that  their  °rulers 
and  elders  and  scribes  were  gathered  together  °in  Jeru- 

6.  salem;  and  °Annas  the  high  priest  was  there,  and 
Caiaphas,  and  John,  and  Alexander,  and  °as  many  as 

7.  were  of  the  kindred  of  the  high  priest.  And  when 
they  had  set  them  in  the  midst,  they  inquired,  By  what 

3.  In  ward.  In  5  :  18-19  ^^^  '  ward  '  or  confinement  was  prison, 
but  the  word  does  not  necessarily  require  this.  Now  eventide.  Hence 
some  three  hours  had  been  spent  in  Solomon's  porch.    Comp,  3  :  i. 

4.  The  word.  That  is,  the  message  of  the  Gospel.  Comp.  6:4;  8:4. 
It  is  the  equivalent  of  '  thy  word  '  (4  ;  29)  and  the  *  word  of  God ' 
(4:  29,  31).  Believed.  Frequently  used  in  Acts  without  an  object 
(e.g.,  4:32;  8  :  13).  On  the  author's  conception  of  the  content  of 
the  belief,  see  5  :  14;  8  :  37;  15  :  11.  Of  the  men.  Women  are  first 
specified  as  among  new  converts  in  5  :  14.  About  five  thousand. 
This  is  an  approximate  estimate  of  all  the  converts  from  Pentecost 
to  the  present  hour. 

5.  Rulers,  elders,  scribes.  These  were  the  constituent  elements 
of  the  sanhedrin,  the  supreme  court  of  the  Jews.  The  sanhedrin 
is  more  frequently  designated  in  Acts  by  two  of  the  elements,  viz., 
chief  priests  and  elders.  See  vs.  23;  23  :  14;  25  :  15.  The  '  rulers  * 
seem  to  have  been  the  same  in  this  case  as  the  '  high  priests  '  (vs.  6), 
though  they  are  sometimes  distinguished  from  them.  SeeLk.  23  :  13; 
24  :  20.  The  *  elders,'  unlike  the  priests  and  scribes,  were  a  class 
whose  membership  in  the  sanhedrin  rested  on  general  considerations 
of  prominence  in  the  community.  In  Jerusalem.  This  clause, 
which  has  been  connected  with  *  scribes '  (hence  *  scribes  of  Jerusalem'), 
or  with  all  the  three  classes  (the  thought  being  that  those  of  the  three 
classes  who  were  then  at  hand  gathered  together),  is  rather  to  be  taken 
with  the  verb.  Since  Luke  was  writing  for  Greeks  and  writing  long 
after  the  sanhedrin  had  ceased  to  meet  in  Jerusalem,  it  was  natural 
to  specify  the  place  of  the  present  meeting. 

6.  Annas  the  high  priest.  He  was  not  strictly  such,  but  virtually. 
Comp.  Jn.  18  :  13,  24.  He  dominated  the  office  a  very  long  time 
through  five  sons  and  one  son-in-law  (Ant.  XX.  9.  i).  As  many  as 
were  of  the  kindred  of  the  high  priest.  This  expression  suggests  how 
grave  the  situation  was  in  the  thought  of  the  rulers. 

S6 


ACTS  4:11 

8.  power,  or  in  what  name,  °have  ye  done  this?     Then 
Peter,   filled  with   the  Holy  Ghost,   said  unto   them, 

9.  Ye  rulers  of  the  people,  and  elders,  if  we  this  day  are 
°examined  concerning  °a  good  deed  done  to  an  impotent 

10.  man,  by  what  means  this  man  is  °made  whole;  be  it 
known  unto  you  all,  and  to  all  the  people  of  Israel,  that 
in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth,  °whom  ye  cruci- 
fied, whom  God  raised  from  the  dead,  even  °  ^  in  him  doth 

11.  this  man  stand  here  before  you  whole.     He  is  the  stone  Ps.  118 
which  was  set  at  nought  °of  you  the  builders,  which 

'  m  in  this  name 


7.  Have  ye  done  this?  They  did  not  question  that  a  cure  had 
been  wrought :  I  hey  would  only  know  how.  And  yet  the  question 
may  well  have  been  only  a  pretence.  It  seems  probable  that  they 
had  heard  how  it  was  with  the  use  of  Jesus'  name  that  the  man  had 
been  healed.  They  may  have  sought  by  their  question  an  incrim- 
inating confession  from  the  disciples. 

9.  Examined.  Treated  as  disturbers  of  the  peace  the  night  before 
(vss.  2-3),  they  are  now  judicially  examined  by  the  same  body  before 
which  Jesus  had  been  brought.  A  good  deed,  Peter  is  aware,  and 
wishes  his  judges  also  to  be  aware,  of  the  contrast  between  his  own 
treatment  of  the  lame  man  and  their  treatment  of  him.  Made  whole. 
In  2  :  21,  40,  47  the  word  here  used  of  a  physical  cure  is  used  of  spirit- 
ual blessing.  So  elsewhere  throughout  Acts,  It  is  only  from  the 
context  that  we  learn  its  particular  reference. 

10.  Whom  ye  crucified.  Here,  when  addressing  the  sanhedrin, 
Peter's  words  are  true  in  a  fuller  sense  than  on  the  two  preceding 
occasions  when  the  same  charge  was  made.  See  2  :  23  ;  3  :  14,  In 
him.  The  margin  '  in  this  name  '  is  both  closer  to  the  Greek  and  is 
more  suited  to  the  preceding  context.     Comp.  3  :  6,  16. 

11.  This  verse  is  an  adaptation  of  Ps.  118  :  22,  while  in  i  Pet. 
2  :  7  the  same  passage  is  given  almost  exactly  as  it  stands  in  the  Sep- 
tuagint.  This  use  of  the  passage  by  the  apostles  was  natural  in  view 
of  Christ's  own  use  of  it.  See  Matt.  21  :  42;  Mk,  12:10;  Lk,  20  :  17. 
Of  you  the  builders.  Not  the  *  builders  '  had  in  mind  by  the  psalmist, 
for  they  were  the  '  nations,'  Gentiles  not  Jews,  even  as  the  '  stone  ' 
in  the  original  refers  to  Israel,  not  to  the  Messiah.  We  may  say  that 
the  verse  was  applicable  to  Jesus  and  the  Jews  who  crucified  him  in 
even  a  higher,  completer  sense  than  it  had  ever  been  applicable  to 

57 


12  ACTS 

12.  °was  made  the  head  of  the  corner.  And 
other  is  there  °salvation  :  for  neither  is  there  °any  other 
name  under  heaven,  that  is  given  among  men,  wherein 
we  must  be  saved. 

13.  Now  when  they  beheld  the  boldness  of  Peter  °and 
John,  and  had  perceived  that  they  were  ^unlearned  and 
ignorant  men,  they  marvelled;    and  they  °took  know- 

14.  ledge  of  them,  that  they  had  been  with  Jesus.  And 
seeing  the  man  which  was  healed  ^standing  with  them, 

Israel  and  the  nations.  Was  made.  The  divine  intention  to  make 
Jesus  the  *  head  of  the  corner  '  was  signally  manifest  to  Peter  in  the 
fact  of  the  resurrection. 

12.  In  none  other.  In  view  of  vs.  10  and  of  what  follows  in  the 
present  verse,  we  should  probably  supply  with  '  none  other  '  the 
word  'name.'  Others  take  it  personally.  Salvation.  This  noun,  as 
also  the  kindred  verb  in  vs.  9,  is  used  in  Acts  both  of  physical  deliver- 
ance (e.g.,  7  :  25;  27  :  34)  and  of  spiritual  redemption.  Any  other 
name,  under  heaven.  Peter  repeats  with  emphasis  the  thought  of  the 
first  clause  of  the  verse.  There  could  be  only  one  Christ.  The 
general  character  of  his  language,  which  looks  beyond  the  Jews, 
may  perhaps  have  been  occasioned  by  the  fact  that  the  Sadducees 
—  and  he  was  speaking  to  some  of  this  sect  —  were  favorable  to 
Greek  culture  and  philosophy. 

13.  And  John.  The  '  boldness '  of  John  might  be  inferred  from 
his  bearing  before  the  sanhedrin,  but  the  perception  that  he  as  well  as 
Peter  was  unlearned  and  ignorant  rather  implies  that  he  had  spoken, 
though  no  speech  of  his  is  given.  Unlearned  and  ignorant.  The  Greek 
of  the  first  of  these  words  is  found  only  here  in  the  NT.  and  of  the 
second  only  here  in  Luke's  writings.  Peter  and  John  were,  technically 
speaking,  unlearned.  They  as  little  as  their  Master  (see  Jn.  7:15) 
had  been  through  the  rabbinic  schools.  But,  speaking  broadly, 
they  were  not  ignorant  and  unlearned  in  regard  to  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Took  knowledge  of  them.  The  force  of  the  Greek  is  not  wholly 
clear,  but  we  understand  it  to  mean  that  one  and  another  recognized 
Peter  and  John  as  men  whom  they  had  seen  with  Jesus,  perhaps  on 
the  day  of  his  trial. 

14.  This  verse,  though  treated  by  the  R.V.  and  S.V.  as  an  inde- 
pendent sentence,  is  very  closely  connected  with  the  preceding.  It 
records  a  fact  that  is  parallel  to  the  last.  The  judges  both  recognized 
that  Peter  and  John  had  been  with  Jesus,  and  they  had  nothing  to 
say  against  the  cure,  for  the  healed  man  was  there  before  their  eyes. 

58 


ACTS  4:20 

15.  they  could  say  nothing  against  it.  °But  when  they 
had  commanded  them  to  go  aside  out  of  the  council, 

16.  they  conferred  among  themselves,  saying.  What  shall 
we  do  to  these  men  ?  for  that  indeed  a  notable  miracle 
hath  been  °wrought  through  them,  is  manifest  to  all 

17.  that  dwell  in  Jerusalem;  and  °we  cannot  deny  it.  But 
that  it  spread  no  further  among  the  people,  °let  us 
threaten  them,  that  they  speak  henceforth  to  no  man 

18.  °in  this  name.  And  they  called  them,  and  charged 
them  °not  to  speak  at  all  nor  teach  in  the  name  of  Jesus. 

19.  But  Peter  and  John  answered  and  said  unto  them. 
Whether  it  be  right  in  the  sight  of  God  to  hearken  unto 

20.  you  rather  than  unto  God,  °judge  ye  :   for  °we  can- 


Standing  with  them.  The  man  who  had  been  healed  indicated  in  this 
way  that  he  made  the  case  of  the  apostles  his  own.  It  was  a  brave 
and  loyal  act,  most  unlike  the  conduct  of  Peter  when  Jesus  was  on 
trial. 

15.  It  is  'always  difficult  for  a  large  body  to  keep  a  secret;  and, 
moreover,  it  is  probable  that  in  the  council  were  some  who,  if  not  at 
that  time  yet  soon  after,  became  followers  of  Jesus.  Comp.  6:7. 
Thus  the  nature  of  its  deliberation  would  become  known. 

16.  Wrought  through  them.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  unbelieving 
Jews,  even  as  Peter  (see  3  :  12-13),  traced  the  sign  to  a  power  beyond 
man.  We  cannot  deny  it.  This  is  valuable  testimony  to  the  reality 
of  the  cure.  They  did  not  think  it  worth  while  to  ascribe  the  work  to 
Satan,  as  some  of  the  Pharisees  had  done  in  the  case  of  Jesus  on  a 
certain  occasion.     See  Matt.  12  :  24. 

17.  Let  us  threaten  them.  They  doubtless  expected  that  this  would 
be  effectual.  How  little  they  understood  the  new  spirit  of  the  dis- 
ciples !  In  this  name.  The  Greek,  not  the  same  here  as  in  3  :  6, 
might  be  rendered  '  on  the  ground  of  this  name.'  The  disciples  are 
thought  of  as  taking  their  stand  upon  it,  making  the  name  of  Jesus 
(the  Christ)  the  foundation  of  their  teaching. 

18.  Not  to  speak  at  all  nor  teach.  The  first  clause  may  be  referred 
to  such  utterances  as  that  of  Peter  when  he  healed  the  lame  man 
(3:6).  That  was  not  formal  teaching,  but  it  made  the  leaders  just 
as  much  trouble. 

19.  Judge  ye.  Peter  knew  that  but  one  answer  could  be  given  to 
the  proposition  as  he  had  put  it.     He  was  willing  that  the  council 

59 


ACTS 

not  but  speak  the  °things  which  we  saw  and  heard. 

21.  And  they,  when  they  had  °further  threatened  them, 
let  them  go,  finding  nothing  how  they  might  punish 
them,  °because  of  the  people;    for  all  men  °glorified 

22.  God  for  that  which  was  done.  For  the  man  was  °more 
than  forty  years  old,  on  whom  this  miracle  of  healing 

23.  was  wrought.  And  being  let  go,  they  came  °to  their 
own  company,  and  reported  all  that  the  chief  priests 

24.  and  the  elders  had  said  unto  them.  And  they,  when 
they  heard  it,  lifted  up  their  voice  to  God  with  one 

should  pass  judgment  on  the  point  whether  a  man's  supreme  obe- 
dience was  due  to  God  or  to  men. 

20.  "We  cannot  but  speak.  This  utterance  throws  h'ght  on  the 
*  judge  ye  '  of  the  last  verse.  Whatever  the  council  might  say  would 
not  change  the  apostles'  purpose  to  witness  to  Jesus.  Things  which 
we  saw  and  heard.    That  is,  in  the  ministry  of  Jesus. 

21.  Further  threatened.  This  seems  to  imply  that  the  proposal 
of  vs.  17  had  been  carried  out,  though  vs.  18  does  not  mention  threats. 
The  threat  may  well  have  been  to  excommunicate  the  disciples.  Be- 
cause of  the  people.  Thus  popular  favor  saved  the  apostles  as  it 
had  more  than  once  averted  hostile  attacks  from  the  Master.  See 
Mk,  II  :  32;  Lk.  19  :  48.  Glorified.  Better,  *  were  glorifying,'  that 
is,  at  that  very  time. 

22.  More  than  forty.  To  the  common  people  the  miracle  was 
probably  heightened  by  the  age  of  the  man,  but  Luke  as  a  physician 
can  hardly  have  attached  such  significance  to  the  man's  age  since  he 
was  horn  lame.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  Greek  word  here  translated 
'  healing  '  is  found  only  in  Luke  in  the  N.T. 

23.  To  their  own  company.  It  is  not  necessary  to  limit  this  ex- 
pression to  the  apostles  in  view  of  anything  in  vss.  24-31,  for  even  that 
which  is  said  in  vs.  31  was  true  of  all  disciples  at  Pentecost  (2:4); 
nor,  on  the  other  hand,  is  it  probable  that  it  included  the  total  number 
of  believers. 

24.  This  prayer  (24-30)  is  much  too  long  and  complex  to  allow  the 
supposition  that  all  present  uttered  it  simultaneously.  It  was  too 
early  in  the  history  of  the  Church,  and  the  course  of  affairs  until  the 
preceding  day  had  been  too  calm,  to  allow  the  supposition  that  these 
verses  were  a  prayer  with  which  all  disciples  were  familiar.  We  must 
then  suppose  that  some  one  person  uttered  the  prayer,  and  that  the 
words  *  with  one  accord '  refer  to  its  being  taken  up  by  all  present 
and  made  their  own;  or  else  that  there  was  a  spontaneous  outpouring 

60 


ACTS  4 :  28 

accord,  and  said,  °0  Lord,  thou  that  didst  make  the 
heaven  and  the  earth  and  the  sea,  and  all  that  in  them 

25.  is  :  who  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  the  mouth  of  our  father 
David  thy  servant,  didst  say, 

Why  did  the  Gentiles  rage,  Ps.  a : 

And  the  peoples  imagine  vain  things? 

26.  The  kings  of  the  earth  set  themselves  in  array, 
And  the  rulers  were  gathered  together, 

Against  the  Lord,  and  against  °his  Anointed  : 

27.  °for  of  a  truth  in  this  city  against  thy  holy  Servant 
Jesus,  whom  thou  °didst  anoint,  both  Herod  and  Pontius 
Pilate,  with  the  Gentiles  and  the  peoples  of  Israel, 

28.  were  ^gathered  together,  to  do  whatsoever  thy  hand  and 

of  prayer,  and  that  these  verses  preserve  the  general  tenor  of  it,  not 
the  very  words.  O  Lord.  Rather,  *  O  Sovereign  One  '  —  a  desig- 
nation of  God  in  line  with  the  apostles'  conviction  that  all  human 
opposition  to  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  would  be  in  vain. 

25-26.  The  words  which  immediately  introduce  this  quotation 
from  the  second  Psalm  contain,  according  to  modern  students  of  the 
text,  some  early  error.  They  are  variously  given  in  different  Mss. 
The  reading  represented  by  the  R.V.  is  the  most  acceptable.  His 
Anointed.  The  '  Anointed  '  of  the  Psalm  was,  in  the  first  instance. 
Some  king  of  Israel,  but  which  one  cannot  be  definitely  determined. 
The  early  Christians,  as  before  them  the  Jews,  regarded  the  Psalm  as 
Messianic. 

27.  For  of  a  truth.  These  words  introduce  certain  historical  facts 
which  the  speaker  regarded  as  fulfilling  the  Psalm  and  therefore 
as  justifying  its  quotation.  Didst  anoint,  i.e.,  empower  by  thy  Spirit  to 
act  as  Saviour.  Gathered  together.  The  circumstances  connected 
with  the  death  of  Jesus  corresponded  to  those  described  in  the  ancient 
Psalm.  In  both  cases  there  was  a  gathering  of  enemies,  in  both  it 
was  against  the  Anointed  of  God.  Herod  and  Pilate  answer  to  the 
'kings  '  and  *  rulers,'  the  Romans  and  Israel  to  the  'Gentiles.'  The 
expression  '  peoples  of  Israel,'  though  in  a  measure  justified  by  the 
twelvefold  division  of  Israel,  seems  to  have  been  occasioned  by  the 
fact  that  the  Psalm  uses  the  plural.  The  *  peoples  '  of  the  Psalm, 
however,  were  Gentiles,  not  Jews.  Here  the  adaptation  of  Scripture 
is  just  the  reverse  of  Paul's  in  Rom.  10  :  25-26. 

28.  The  same  fundamental  thought  as  in  the  speeches,  2  :  23; 
3  :  18.    On  *  counsel '  see  note  on  2  :  23. 

61 


ACTS 

29.  thy  counsel  foreordained  to  come  to  pass.  And  now, 
Lord,  °look  upon  their  threatenings  :  and  grant  unto 
thy  servants  to  speak   °thy  word  with  all  boldness, 

30.  while  thou  stretchest  forth  thy  hand  to  heal ;  and  that 
signs  and  wonders  may  be  done  °through  the  name  of 

31.  thy  holy  Servant  Jesus.  And  when  they  had  prayed, 
°the  place  was  shaken  wherein  they  were  gathered 
together;  and  they  were  all  °filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  °they  spake  the  word  of  God  with  boldness. 

Fellowship  among  the  early  Christians,  4:32-37 

32.  And  the  °multitude  of  them  that  believed  were  of 
°one  heart  and  soul  :  and  not  one  of  them  said  that 
aught  of  the  things  which  he  possessed  was  °his  own; 

29.  Look  upon  their  threatenings.  That  is,  consider  with  a  view 
to  their  punishment.  Thy  word.  Just  as  the  signs  of  Jesus  are 
traced  up  to  the  power  of  God  (see  2  :  22),  so  here  the  Gospel  is 
ascribed  to  him. 

30.  This  prayer  for  divine  intervention  in  the  form  of  miraculous 
works  proceeds  from  the  special  to  the  general.  Healing  was  both 
a  '  sign  '  and  a  *  wonder,'  but  not  the  only  one.  This  prayer  for  signs 
by  the  side  of  the  prayer  for  boldness  indicates  that,  at  this  time, 
they  were  thought  of  great  importance  for  the  extension  of  the  king- 
dom of  Christ.  Through  the  name  of.  This  equals  *  through  him  '  in 
2:22.  Their  own  part  in  the  work  is  left  entirely  in  the  background. 
It  is  the  power  of  God  working  through  Jesus  that  produces  the  re- 
sult which  they  desire. 

31.  The  place  was  shaken.  It  is  most  natural  to  suppose  that  the 
author  regarded  this  as  the  shaking  in  16  :  26.  As  the  noise  in  2  :  2, 
so  here  the  motion  is  thought  of  as  supernaturally  caused.  Filled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost.  Since  many  of  those  present  had  been  '  filled  ' 
with  the  Spirit  at  Pentecost  (2:4),  it  follows  that  the  author  did  not 
think  of  the  '  filling  '  as  permanent.  Rather  it  was  thought  of  as 
giving  a  power  of  which  they  were  unequally  conscious  at  diflferent 
times.  On  the  rendering  of  the  words,  see  Appendix.  They  spake. 
Better,  '  they  continued  to  speak.'  The  word  refers  to  the  succeed- 
ing days ;  while  the  disciples  were  together  by  themselves,  there  was 
no  opportunity  to  exhibit  boldness. 

32.  Multitude.     See  note  on  2:6.      One  heart  and  soul.      The 

62 


ACTS  4:36 

33.  but  they  had  °all  things  common.  And  with  °great 
jL»  power  °gave  the  apostles  their  witness  of  the  resurrec- 
^P     tion  of  the  Lord  Jesus  :    and  °great  grace  was  upon 

34.  them  alL  For  neither  was  there  among  them  any 
that  lacked  :  for  °as  many  as  were  possessors  of  lands 
or  houses  sold  them,  and  brought  the  prices  of  the 

35.  things  that  were  sold,  and  laid  them  °at  the  apostles' 
feet :  and  distribution  was  made  unto  each,  according 
as  any  one  had  need. 

36.  And  Joseph,  who  by  the  apostles  was  °surnamed 

double  expression  emphasizes  the  completeness  of  the  harmony.  His 
own.  That  is,  no  one,  in  the  face  of  any  need  of  the  brotherhood, 
said  that  his  goods  were  his  own.  All  things  common.  See  note 
on  2  :  44. 

33.  Great  power.  Nothing  suggests  that  this  should  be  thought 
of  otherwise  than  as  spiritual  power.  Gave  their  witness.  The  Greek 
verb  suggests  that  this  witness  was  something  that  might  properly  be 
asked  or  demanded  of  the  apostles.  This  is  in  line  with  their  con- 
ception of  apostleship.  See  i  :  22.  What  this  witness  was,  in  detail, 
we  may  infer  from  the  resurrection  narratives  in  the  Gospels.  From 
the  connection  in  which  this  statement  stands  it  seems  probable  that 
the  reference  is  to  a  witnessing  in  the  company  of  the  believers.  On 
earlier  occasions  Peter  had  spoken  to  unbelievers  on  the  same  subject. 
See  2  :  24;  3  :  15;  4  :  10.  Great  grace.  It  seems  to  follow  from  the 
next  verse   that   by   this   *  grace '  was   meant   the   favor    of   God. 

'  Comp.  2 :  47.     An  invisible  reality  was  inferred  from  things  which 
were  seen, 

34.  The  simple  thought  of  the  verse  is  that  no  needy  person  was 
allowed  to  continue  in  need.  Different  ones,  to  prevent  this,  sold 
ground  and  houses  from  time  to  time.  (The  verbs  both  in  this  verse 
and  the  following  are  in  the  imperfect  tense,  denoting  repeated  action.) 
As  many  as.  This  cannot  be  taken  literally,  for  then  the  early  be- 
lievers would  have  been  singularly  devoid  of  common  sense.  The 
sale  of  lands  and  houses  was  doubtless  exceptional,  and  even  then 
did  not  extend  to  the  very  roof  over  one's  head.  But  the  need  of  the 
brotherhood  —  and  this  is  the  great  fact  —  was  felt  by  those  who  had 
means,  and  so  felt  that  it  was  spontaneously  supplied.  At  the  apostles' 
feet.  This  may  mark  an  advance  on  the  state  that  existed  immediately 
after  Pentecost,  2  :  44-45.  There  was  at  that  time  no  indication  that 
the  work  of  aiding  the  needy  was  organized  and  that  the  apostles 
directed  it. 

63 


ACTS 

Barnabas  (which  is,  being  interpreted,  Son  of  exhor- 
37.   tation),  a  °Levite,  a  man  °of  Cyprus  by  race,  having  a 
field,  sold  it,  and  brought  the  money,  and  laid  it  at  the 
apostles'  feet. 

Ananias  and  Sapphira,  5:1-11 

5.       But  a  certain  man  named  Ananias,  with  Sapphira 

2.  his  wife,  sold  a  possession,  and  °kept  back  part  of  the 
price,  his  wife  also  being  privy  to  it,  and  brought  a 

3.  certain  part,  and  °laid  it  at  the  apostles'  feet.     But 
Peter  said,  Ananias,  °why  hath  Satan  filled  thy  heart  °to 

36-37.  A  special  case  of  generosity  is  noted,  singled  out  of  the 
instances  implied  in  vs.  34,  perhaps  because  of  the  great  prominence 
afterward  attained  by  Barnabas.  Suraamed  Barnabas,  The  fact 
that  Luke  always  uses  this  surname  instead  of  the  man's  true  name 
indicates  that  it  had  been  generally  adopted  among  the  disciples  in 
Jerusalem.  It  must  then  have  been  strikingly  apt.  Luke's  inter- 
pretation of  the  name  may  be  variously  understood  (*  son  of  prophecy,' 
*  son  of  Nebo,'  etc.),  but  in  view  of  11  :  23-24,  the  translation  of  the 
R.V.,  *  son  of  exhortation,'  appears  to  be  justified.  Levite.  Barnabas 
is  the  only  Levite  mentioned  by  name  in  the  N.T.  The  fact  that 
Levites  according  to  the  ancient  law  (Dt.  10  :  9)  had  no  portion  in 
Israel  among  their  brethren  was  not  regarded,  in  Jeremiah's  time,  as 
debarring  priests  from  the  ownership  of  land  (see  Jer.  32  :  7-12), 
nor  was  it  in  the  first  century,  for  Josephus  tells  us  that  he  was  a 
priest  and  also  owned  lands  near  Jerusalem  (Vita,  i.  76).  Of  Cyprus 
by  race.  It  is  not  told  us  whether  his  present  home  was  in  Jerusalem 
or  in  Cyprus.  The  land  which  he  sold  may  have  been  in  either  place. 
Cyprus,  though  not  mentioned  in  the  geographical  list  of  chapter  2, 
had  a  large  Jewish  population,  and  some  of  its  earliest  converts  were 
distinguished  evangelists  (11  :  20). 

1.  The  names  of  the  man  and  his  wife  are  in  striking  contrast  to 
their  character.  'Ananias'  means,  'Jehovah  is  gracious,'  and  'Sap- 
phira '  means  '  beautiful  '  or  '  precious.' 

2.  Kept  back  part  of  the  price.  The  implication  of  the  Greek  word 
is  bad.  See  Titus  2:10.  Laid  it  at  the  apostles'  feet.  The  act  was 
like  that  of  Barnabas,  but  the  sequel  shows  that  it  was  for  effect. 
Why  hath  Satan  filled  thy  heart  ?  Inner  processes  of  the  mind  often 
manifest  themselves  in  the  face  and  bearing.  Peter  doubtless  saw 
that  the  man  was  acting  hypocritically,  and  his  question  means, 

64 


ACTS  5 : 6 

P     lie  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to  keep  back  part  of  the 

4.  price  of  the  land?  Whiles  it  remained,  did  it  not 
remain  °thine  own?  and  after  it  was  sold,  was  it 
not  in  thy  power?  How  is  it  that  °thou  hast  con- 
ceived  this    thing  in  thy  heart?   thou   hast  °not  lied 

5.  unto  men,  but  unto  God.  And  Ananias  hearing  these 
words  fell  down  and  °gave  up  the  ghost:   and  great 

6.  fear  came  upon  all  that  heard  it.    And  °the  young 

*  Why  have  you  allowed  Satan  to  fill  your  heart  ? '  To  lie  to  the  Holy 
Ghost.  That  is  Peter's  analysis  of  the  act  of  Ananias.  The  man  him- 
self had  surely  not  seen  his  act  in  so  serious  a  light.  At  most  he  had 
regarded  it  as  a  venial  deception  of  the  apostles. 

4.  Thine  own  ...  in  thy  power?  It  is  plain  from  Peter's  words 
that  the  disciples  were  under  no  outward  compulsion  whatever  to 
sell  property  for  the  common  good.  The  legal  right  of  a  man  to  his 
property  was  not  remotely  questioned.  Hence  there  was  no  excuse 
for  Ananias.  Thou  hast  conceived.  In  vs.  4  the  lie  is  ascribed  to 
Satan,  here  to  Ananias,  but  the  variation  is  merely  formal.  Ana- 
nias is  held  responsible  there  as  here.  Not  unto  men,  but  unto  God. 
It  could  be  said  that  it  was  not  a  lie  unto  men  because  that  aspect  of 
the  deed  was  regarded  as  infinitely  less  important  than  the  other. 
The  statement  is  rhetorical. 

5 .  Gave  up  the  ghost.  The  Greek  word  here  employed  —  frequently 
used  by  medical  writers  —  is  found  only  in  Luke  in  the  N.T.  (vs.  10; 
12  :  23).  It  is  to  be  noted  regarding  the  death  of  Ananias  (i)  that 
Peter  spoke  no  word  of  judgment  on  him :  he  simply  diagnosed  his  sin, 
as  one  of  the  old  prophets  might  have  done.  It  does  not  appear  from 
the  narrative  that  he  had  any  idea  of  what  was  about  to  befall  Ananias. 
Hence  (2)  the  author  probably  regarded  the  death  of  Ananias  as  an 
immediate  judgment  of  God.  (3)  Without  questioning  that  it  was 
a  divine  judgment,  we  are  to  hold  that  it  took  place  according  to 
natural  laws.  And  (4),  though  it  may  be  regarded  as  a  divine  judg- 
ment, since  it  took  place  according  to  laws  which  God  has  estab- 
lished, it  clearly  does  not  accord  with  Jesus'  method  of  dealing  with 
the  sin  of  hypocrisy. 

6.  The  young  men.  The  use  of  the  definite  article  here  probably 
does  not  indicate  that  certain  ones  had  been  appointed  to  this  sort  of 
duty.  Of  such  an  office  this  passage  would  be  the  only  NT.  evidence. 
It  was  simply  natural  that  the  burial  of  Ananias  should  be  under- 
taken by  the  younger  men,  those  who  had  strength  to  bear  burdens. 
Arose.  It  is  here  suggested  (as  also  in  the  last  clause  of  vs.  5) 
that  Ananias  had  brought  his  money  to  the  apostles  on  the  occasion 

F  65 


ACTS 

men  °arose  and  °wrapped  him  round,  and  they  carried 
him  out  and  buried  him. 

7.  And  it  was  about  the  space  of  three  hours  after, 
when  his  wife,  not  knowing  what  was  done,  °came  in. 

8.  And  Peter  answered  unto  her,  Tell  me  °whether  ye 
sold  the  land  for  so  much.     And  she  said,  Yea,  for  so 

9.  much.  But  Peter  said  unto  her.  How  is  it  that  ye 
have  agreed  together  °to  tempt  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  ? 
behold,  the  feet  of  them  which  have  buried  thy  hus- 
band are  °at  the  door,  and  °they  shall  carry  thee  out. 

10.  And  she  fell  down  °immediately  at  his  feet,  and  gave 


of  some  public  gathering.  The  significance  of  such  an  act  is  obvious. 
Wrapped  him  round.  The  Greek  verb  might  mean  that  they  composed 
the  body  for  burial,  but  in  a  writer  w^ho  shows  so  great  fondness  for 
medical  terms  as  Luke  does,  it  probably  signifies  to  enshroud,  for  in 
medical  writings  it  was  used  of  wrapping  about  with  bandages. 

7.  Came  in.  The  occasion  of  her  coming,  as  well  as  the  place  to 
which  she  came,  is  not  clearly  indicated,  though  it  has  been  thought 
that  the  '  three  hours  '  interval  suggests  one  of  the  hours  of  prayer. 
But  the  place  where  the  apostles  received  offerings  and  made  distri- 
bution (4 :  35)  can  hardly  have  been  in  the  temple,  where  the  hour 
of  prayer  would  naturally  have  been  observed.     See  3:1. 

8.  Obviously  Peter  was  acquainted  with  Sapphira,  and  knew  her 
as  the  wife  of  Ananias.  It  may  well  be  that  he  knew  more  of  her 
character  and  of  her  husband's  than  this  brief  narrative  suggests. 
Whether  ye  sold  the  land  for  so  much.  This  expression  is  natural  if 
Peter  pointed  as  he  spoke  to  the  amount  which  Ananias  had  brought, 
or,  pointing  to  it,  mentioned  the  sum.  The  question  evidently  aimed 
to  ascertain  whether  Sapphira  shared  her  husband's  guilt.  Peter 
may  have  suspected  this  from  her  demeanor  or  from  his  previous 
knowledge  of  her. 

9.  To  tempt  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord?  See  on  vs.  3.  Their  agree- 
ment was,  of  course,  not  to  tempt  or  try  the  Spirit  of  God.  This  is 
Peter's  uncovering  of  the  real  inner  significance  of  the  act.  At  the 
door.  The  return  of  the  young  men  just  in  the  moment  when  the 
guilt  of  Sapphira  was  made  manifest,  together  with  the  fate  which  had 
befallen  Ananias,  accounts  for  Peter's  conviction  that  she  also  is  to 
share  in  his  judgment.  They  shall  carry  thee  out.  From  what  he 
thought  to  have  been  God's  dealing  in  one  case  he  argued  what  it 
would  be  in  another  that  was  altogether  parallel. 

66 


ACTS  5:14 

Pup  the  ghost :  and  the  young  men  came  in  and  found 
her  dead,  and  they  carried  her  out  and  buried  her  by 

11.  her  husband.     And  great  fear  came  upon  the  whole 
°church,  and  upon  all  that  heard  these  things. 

Signs  of  the  apostles;  growth  of  the  Christian  community ^ 
5-12-16 

12.  And  °by  the  hands  of  the  apostles  were  many  signs 
and  wonders  wrought  °among  the  people;    and  °they 

13.  were  all  with  one  accord  in  Solomon's  porch.     But  °of 
the  rest  durst  no  man  join  himself  to  them  :    howbeit 

14.  the  people  °magnified  them;    and  beUevers  were  the 

10.  Immediately.  The  death  of  Sapphira  was  regarded  by  Luke 
as  a  divine  judgment.  It  was  such  only  as  we  see  divine  judgment 
realized  through  natural  laws.  It  was  doubtless  due  to  the  over- 
whelming shock  caused  by  the  exposure  of  her  sin  and  the  knowledge 
of  her  husband's  fate. 

11.  Church.  It  appears  doubtful  whether  this  term,  here  used  for 
the  first  time  in  Acts,  was  already  employed  to  designate  Christians 
while  as  yet  the  courts  of  the  temple  were  their  common  place  of  meet- 
ing, and  the  gulf  which  was  to  separate  them  from  other  Jewish  wor- 
shippers had  scarcely  begun  to  appear.  One  cannot,  however,  speak 
on  this  point  with  positiveness. 

12.  By  the  hands  of  the  apostles.  The  writer,  though  recording 
no  miracle  by  any  apostle  except  Peter,  manifestly  thought  that  the 
others  wrought  similar  works.  Among  the  people.  The  signs  were 
not  wrought  in  any  particular  place,  as  Solomon's  porch,  but  in 
various  places.  See  3:6;  5  :  15.  They  .  .  .  all.  It  is  not  clear  who 
were  in  Solomon's  porch  with  one  accord,  whether  the  apostles  just 
mentioned,  or  the  entire  company  of  believers.  There  is  no  reason 
for  thinking  that  the  one  hundred  and  twenty  (i  :  15)  continued  as 
a  distinct  circle  within  the  larger  body  of  believers. 

13.  Of  the  rest.  The  meaning  of  this  depends  on  the  meaning  of 
the  preceding  '  they,'  which  is  confessedly  obscure.  It  is  perhaps 
best  to  refer  it  to  non-Christians.  In  this  case  the  statement  that 
no  man  durst  join  himself  to  the  apostles  must  be  understood  of 
outward  association.  See  9  :  26.  The  author  may  have  thought 
that  the  fate  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira  had  created  a  certain  dread  of 
approaching  the  apostles.     Magnified.    The  superstitious  awe  before 

67 


ACTS 

more  added  to  the  Lord,  °multitudes  both  of  men  and 

15.  women;  °insomuch  that  they  even  carried  out  the  sick 
into  the  streets,  and  laid  them  on  beds  and  °couches, 
that,  as  Peter  came  by,  at  the  least  °his  shadow  might 

16.  overshadow  some  one  of  them.  And  there  also  came 
together  the  multitude  from  the  cities  round  about 
Jerusalem,  bringing  sick  folk,  and  them  that  were 
vexed  with  unclean  spirits  :  and  they  were  healed  every 

The  arrest,  punishment,  and  release  of  the  apostles, 
5:17-42. 

17.  one.  But  °the  high  priest  rose  up,  and  all  they  that  were 
with  him  (which  is  the  °sect  of  the  Sadducees),  and  they 

the  apostles  as  wonder-workers  appears  not  to  have  excluded  popular 
respect  for  them  as  good  men.     See  2  :  47. 

14.  A  particular  statement  parallel  with  the  preceding  general 
one.  '  People  magnified  them;  converts  were  made.'  The  trans- 
lation of  the  margin  is  preferable  to  that  in  the  text.  '  Added  to  the 
Lord'  is  indeed  an  expression  found  elsewhere  in  Acts  (11  :  24), 
but  the  order  of  the  Greek  words  in  the  present  instance  is  against  it. 
Multitudes.  The  only  instance  in  the  N.T.  where  the  plural  of  this 
word  is  used  in  Greek.  It  is  probably  taken  to  emphasize  the  greatness 
of  the  number  of  converts. 

15.  Insomuch  that.  These  words  introduce  a  consequence  of  the 
high  esteem  in  which  Peter  was  held,  or  Peter  and  the  other  apostles, 
that  esteem  which  was  affirmed  in  vs.  13  and  illustrated  in  vs.  14. 
Couches.  The  Greek  word  suggests  a  small  and  poor  bed,  and  should 
be  rendered  by  *  cot '  or  '  pallet.'  His  shadow.  This  belief  in  regard 
to  Peter's  shadow  is  analogous  to  that  of  the  woman  who  touched  the 
hem  of  Christ's  garment  (Mk.  5  :  28).  What  results  followed  from 
this  faith  in  the  magical  influence  of  Peter,  we  are  not  told. 

16.  This  is  the  first  reference  to  an  extra-urban  influence  of  the 
apostles.  It  is  noteworthy  that,  as  in  the  case  of  the  public  ministry 
of  Jesus,  it  was  not  the  teaching  but  the  mighty  acts  which  first  at- 
tracted attention. 

17.  The  high  priest  rose  up.  The  word  contrasts  his  present  activity 
with  his  previous  inaction.  He  came  forward  with  a  new  purpose  to 
put  down  the  apostles.  Sect.  This  term  is  given  by  Luke  not  only 
to  the  Sadducees  but  also  to  the  Pharisees  (15  :  5)  and  to  the  disciples 

68 


ACTS  5  :  23 

18.  were  filled  with   °jealousy,   and  laid  hands  on   °the 

19.  aposdes,  and  put  them  in  public  ward.  But  °an 
angel  of  the  Lord  by  night  opened  the  prison  doors, 

20.  and  brought  them  out,  and  said.  Go  ye,  and  stand 
and  speak  in  the  temple  to  the  people  all  the  words 

21.  °of  this  Life.  And  when  they  heard  this,  they  entered 
into  the  temple  about  daybreak,  and  taught.  But 
the  high  priest  came,  and  they  that  were  with  him,  and 
called  the  council  together,  and  all  °the  senate  of  the 
children  of  Israel,  and  sent  to  the  prison-house  to  have 

22.  them  brought.  But  the  officers  that  came  found  them 
not  in  the  prison ;   and  they  returned,  and  told,  saying, 

23.  The  prison-house  we  found  shut  °in  all  safety,  and  the 

of  Jesus  (24 :  5).  Jealousy.  This  motive  might  be  inferred  from 
what  they  said  to  the  apostles  (vs.  28).  Fear  was  also  mingled 
with  the  jealousy.  The  apostles.  Not  simply  Peter  and  John. 
Comp.  vs.  29. 

19.  An  angel  of  the  Lord.  It  is  not  at  all  certain  that,  in  the 
mind  of  the  narrator,  a  supernatural  being  appeared  to  the  apostles. 
He  regarded  the  deliverance  as  supernatural,  even  as  he  regarded  the 
cause  of  Herod's  sudden  death  (12  :  23),  and  this  thought  of  its 
supernatural  character  led  easily  to  the  adoption  of  angelic  agency. 
In  other  words,  this  agency,  as  12  :  23  seems  to  prove,  might  be 
only  the  literary  expression  of  the  thought  of  supernaturalness. 

20.  It  is  wholly  in  keeping  with  the  boldness  of  Peter  and  John 
{e.g.,  4 :  13)  to  suppose  that  this  angelic  message  was  that  of  their 
own  hearts.  All  they  lacked  was  opportunity.  Once  out  of  prison, 
it  was  inevitable  that  they  would  speak  to  the  people.  Of  this  Life. 
This  designation  of  the  new  teaching,  found  only  here  in  Acts,  followed 
naturally  on  the  fact  of  the  resurrection,  as  did  the  designation  '  prince 
of  life  '  in  3  :  15. 

21.  The  senate  of  the  children  of  Israel.  Since  the  N.T.  knows 
nothing  of  a  '  senate  '  of  the  Jews  as  distinct  from  the  sanhedrin  or 
*  council,'  we  should  probably  render  the  Greek  word  here  translated 
'  and  '  by  '  even.'  We  may  suppose  that  Luke  added  this  designation 
of  the  sanhedrin  as  '  all  the  senate  of  the  children  of  Israel  '  for  the 
benefit  of  his  friend  Theophilus,  who,  being  a  Greek,  needed  to  have 
Jewish  terms  explained. 

23.  In  all  safety.  This  language  suggests  that  they  had  examined 
all  the  doors  and  windows. 

69 


ACTS 

keepers  standing  at  the  doors  :  but  when  we  had  opened, 

24.  we  found  no  man  within.  Now  when  the  captain  of 
the  temple  and  the  chief  priests  heard  these  words,  they 
were  much  perplexed  concerning  them  °whereunto  this 

25.  would  grow.  And  °there  came  one  and  told  them. 
Behold,  the  men  whom  ye  put  in  the  prison  are  in  the 

26.  temple  standing  and  teaching  the  people.  Then  went 
the  captain  with  the  officers,  and  brought  them,  but 
without  violence;  for  they  feared  the  people,  lest  they 

27.  should  be  stoned.  And  when  they  had  brought  them, 
they  set  them  °before  the  council.     And  the  high  priest 

28.  asked  them,  saying,  We  straitly  °charged  you  not  to 
teach  in  this  name :  and  behold,  ye  have  filled  Jerusalem 
with  your  teaching,   and  °intend  to  bring  this  man's 

29.  blood  upon  us.     But  Peter  and  the  apostles  answered 

30.  and  said,  °We  must  obey  God  rather  than  men.  The 
God  of  our  fathers  °raised  up  Jesus,  whom  ye  slew, 

24.  Whereunto  this  would  grow.  That  is,  the  strange  escape 
from  the  prison.  Of  course  the  leaders  did  not  attribute  this  to  an 
angel.  They  may  have  seen  in  it  only  a  suggestive  hint  of  the  strength 
of  the  popular  favor  enjoyed  by  the  new  movement. 

25.  There  came  one.  The  narrative  here  and  elsewhere  suggests 
that  the  council  was  not  in  session  on  the  temple  mount.  The  meeting 
may  have  been  in  the  high  priests'  palace.     See  Matt.  26  :  57-58. 

27.  Before  the  council.  The  sanhedrin  sat  in  a  semicircle,  and 
accused  persons  stood  within  the  arc. 

28.  Charged  you.  See  4  :  18,  The  interval  that  had  since  elapsed 
cannot  be  definitely  learned.  The  implication  of  the  passages  4  :  32-35; 
5  :  12-16  is  that  this  interval  extended  to  weeks,  more  probably  to 
months.  Intend.  This  statement  of  the  aim  of  the  apostles,  though 
utterly  false,  had  a  show  of  foundation  in  the  reiterated  charge  of 
Peter  that  the  religious  leaders  were  especially  responsible  for  the 
crucifixion  of  Jesus.     See  3  :  17;   4  :  10. 

29.  We.  This  pronoun  is  not  expressed  in  the  Greek.  That  is 
impersonal  and  general:  'One  must  obey,'  etc.  On  the  thought 
see  4  :  19.     Imprisonment  has  not  altered  Peter's  conviction. 

30.  As  in  3  :  13  so  here,  Peter  contrasts  the  action  of  the  God  of 
their  fathers  with  their  own  action.     Raised  up.    The  reference  is  not 

70 


ACTS  5:36 

31.  hanging  him  on  a  tree.  Him  did  God  °exalt  with  his 
right  hand  to  he  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour,  for  °to  give  re- 

32.  pentance  to  Israel,  and  remission  of  sins.  And  we 
are  witnesses  of  °these  things ;  and  so  is  the  Holy  Ghost, 
whom  God  hath  given  to  them  that  obey  him. 

33.  But  they,  when  they  heard  this,  were  °cut  to  the 

34.  heart,  and  were  minded  to  slay  them.  But  there  stood 
up  one  in  the  council,  a  Pharisee,  named  °Gamahel,  a 
doctor  of  the  law,  had  in  honour  of  all  the  people,  and 

35.  ^commanded  to  put  the  men  forth  a  little  while.  And 
he  said  unto  them.  Ye  men  of  Israel,  take  heed  to 
yourselves  as  touching  these  men,  °what  ye  are  about 

36.  to  do.     For  before  these  days  rose  up  °Theudas,  giving 

to  the  resurrection,  for  this  '  raising  up '  precedes  the  mention  of  Jesus' 
death.  Here,  as  in  Lk.  i  :  69  and  Acts  13  :  22,  the  verb  refers  to 
the  historical  appearance  of  the  Messiah.  This  primitive  thought  of 
his  appearance  among  men  was  soon  entirely  lost  sight  of  in  the 
Church,  and  men  spoke  only  of  his  having  been  sent  from  heaven. 

31.  Exalt  with  his  right  hand.  See  note  on  2:33.  The  resurrec- 
tion, though  not  mentioned  here,  is  presupposed  by  the  exaltation. 
To  give  repentance.  How  this  was  done  we  may  learn  from  the  story 
of  Pentecost.  Repentance  was  there  *  given '  by  means  of  the  motives 
of  the  Gospel  brought  to  bear  on  the  hearers  by  Peter's  words. 

32.  These  things.  That  is,  those  referred  to  in  vss.  30-31,  —  the 
historical  appearance,  death,  and  exaltation  of  Jesus,  together  with  the 
redeeming  purpose  of  it  all. 

33.  Cut  to  the  heart.  The  Greek  verb,  only  here  and  in  7  :  54, 
means  to  *  saw  into.'  It  is  an  intense  figure  of  rage.  This  Peter, 
a  nobody  in  the  eyes  of  the  priests,  had  said  that  they,  the  elect  of 
God,  were  murderers  and  disobedient  1 

34.  Gamaliel.  This  was  Gamaliel  I,  possibly  a  grandson  of 
Hillel,  and  certainly  the  most  distinguished  scribe  of  his  day.  Paul 
was  proud  of  having  been  his  pupil  (22:3).  Gamaliel  was  a  Pharisee, 
and  so  an  opponent  of  those  who  had  called  the  meeting.  Commanded. 
This  term  suggests  that  Gamaliel  had  a  predominating  influence  in 
the  sanhedrin.    Comp.  4  :  15. 

35.  What  ye  are  about  to  do.  It  appears  from  this  expression 
that  the  general  opinion  of  the  body  was  hostile  to  the  apostles,  and 
that  a  sentence  of  death  was  imminent. 

36.  Theudas.    The   incidents  of   this   verse   correspond   closely 

71 


ACTS 

himself  out  to  be  somebody;  to  whom  a  number  of 
men,  about  four  hundred,  joined  themselves  :  who 
was  slain;   and  all,  as  many  as  obeyed  him,  were  dis- 

37.  persed,  and  came  to  nought.  After  this  man  rose  up 
°Judas  of  Galilee  in  the  days  of  the  enrolment,  and 
drew  away  some  of  the  people  after  him  :  he  also  per- 
ished; and  all,  as  many  as  obeyed  him,  were  scattered 

38.  abroad.  And  now  I  say  unto  you.  Refrain  from  these 
men,  and  let  them  alone  :    for  if  this  counsel  or  this 

39.  work  be  of  men,  it  will  be  ^overthrown  :  but  °if  it 
is  of  God,  ye  will  not  be  able  to  overthrow  them;  lest 
haply  ye  be  found  even  to  be  fighting  against  God. 

40.  And  to  him  °they  agreed  :  and  when  they  had  called 
the  apostles  unto  them,  they  beat  them  and  charged 
them  not  to  speak  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  let  them  go. 


with  what  Josephus  says  of  a  certain  magician  by  the  name  of  Theudas, 
who  was  put  to  death  in  the  procurator  ship  of  Cuspius  Fadus,  which 
began  in  44  a.d.  {Ant.  XX,  5.  i).  We  know  of  no  other  revolutionist 
by  this  name.  The  difficulty  of  the  statement  is  twofold :  (i)  the 
Theudas  of  Josephus  was  not  put  to  death  until  at  least  ten  years 
after  the  event  of  the  text;  and  (2)  Gamaliel  puts  Theudas  before 
Judas  of  Galilee,  that  is,  before  7  a.d.  It  is  obviously  impossible  to 
accept  the  words  of  Gamaliel  as  historical  unless  there  was  another 
Theudas  whose  career  was  essentially  the  same  as  that  of  the  magician 
mentioned  by  Josephus.  If  this  was  not  the  case,  then  an  error  must 
be  ascribed  to  the  author  of  Acts. 

37.  Judas  of  Galilee.  According  to  Josephus  this  man  was  op- 
posed to  the  enrolment  of  the  year  7  a.d.,  and  attempting  forcible 
resistance  thereto  was  slain  {Ant.  XVIII,  i.  i). 

38.  Overthrown.  As  in  the  two  historical  instances  which  had 
just  been  cited.  Gamaliel  as  judged  by  this  narrative  appears  to  have 
magnified  the  function  of  Providence  and  to  have  minimized  man's 
part  in  the  progress  of  truth. 

39.  If  it  is  of  God.  Gamaliel  went  farther  than  the  sanhedrin. 
Moreover,  he  did  not  indicate  that  he  was  angered  by  what  Peter  had 
said. 

40.  They  agreed.  They  agreed  with  Gamaliel  so  far  as  to  abandon 
the  purpose  to  kill  the  apostles,  and  yet  they  did  not  wholly  agree  with 

7a 


ACTS  6:2 

41.  They  therefore  departed  from  the  presence  of  the 
council,  ^rejoicing  that  they  were  counted  worthy  to 

42.  suffer  dishonour  °for  the  Name.  And  every  day,  in  the 
temple  and  °at  home,  they  ceased  not  to  teach  and  to 
preach  Jesus  as  the  Christ. 

The  Seven,  6  :  1-70. 

6.  Now  °in  these  days,  when  the  number  of  °the  disciples 
was  multiplying,  there  arose  a  murmuring  of  the 
^Grecian  Jews  against  the  Hebrews,  because  their 
widows    were   neglected   in   the    °daily   ministration. 

2.  And  the  twelve  called  °the  multitude  of  the  disciples 
unto  them,  and  said.  It  is  not  fit  that  we  should  for- 


the  spirit  of  his  speech,  for  they  beat  the  apostles  and  used  all  the 
weight  of  their  authority  to  frighten  them  from  their  work. 

41.  Rejoicing.  Thus  they  fulfilled  the  word  of  the  Master  (Matt. 
5:12).  For  the  Name.  This  absolute  use  of  the  name  of  Jesus  is 
found  also  in  Phil.  2  :  9  and  3  Jn.  7.  It  is  in  line  with  the  extraor- 
dinary significance  given  to  it  in  earlier  chapters  (e.g.,  2  :  38;  3:6, 
4:12). 

42.  The  period  covered  by  this  verse  is  quite  indefinite.  The 
fact  that  the  apostles  could  preach  even  in  the  temple  itself  shows  that 
popular  favor  was  strong  and  outspoken.  At  home.  The  Greek 
word  so  translated  is  found  only  here  and  in  2  ;  46.  The  apostles 
taught  in  their  private  dwelling  or  dwellings  as  well  as  in  the  temple. 

1.  In  these  days.  This  expression  looks  back  to  the  period  just 
sketched  (5  :  42).  The  disciples.  In  the  preceding  chapters  the  follow- 
ers of  Christ  have  been  designated  as  '  believers  '  (e.g.,  2  :  44;  4:4); 
here  for  the  first  time  as  '  disciples.'  This  designation,  common  in 
the  Gospels  and  Acts,  is  never  used  in  the  epistles  or  the  Apocalypse. 
Grecian  Jews.  The  Greek  term  *  Hellenist '  is  found  in  the  N.T. 
only  here  and  in  9  :  29,  perhaps  also  in  11  :  20.  It  was  given  to  Jews 
of  the  Dispersion,  who,  at  least  as  a  rule,  spoke  Greek,  and  it  con- 
trasted them  with  the  Aramaic-speaking  Jews  of  Palestine,  who  are 
here  called  '  Hebrews.'  Daily  ministration.  This  service,  as  appears 
from  the  next  verse,  was  rendered  by  the  apostles, 

2.  The  multitude  of  the  disciples.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  apostles 
as  a  body  took  action;    no  single  one,  as  Peter,  acted  for  the  others. 

73 


ACTS 

3.  sake  the  word  of  God,  and  °serve  tables.  °Look  ye 
out  therefore,  brethren,  from  among  you  °seven  men  of 
good  report,  °full  of  the  Spirit  and  of  wisdom,  whom  °we 

4.  may  appoint  over  this  business.  But  we  will  continue 
stedfastly  °in  prayer,  and  in  the  ministry  of  the  word. 

5.  And  the  saying  pleased  °the  whole  multitude  :  and  they 
chose  ^Stephen,  a  man  full  of  faith  and  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  °Philip,  and  Prochorus,  and  Nicanor,  and 

Serve  tables.  The  disbursements  by  the  apostles  from  the  com- 
mon funds  appear  to  have  been  chiefly  to  furnish  daily  bread.  It  is 
clear  that  the  apostles  regarded  their  charitable  work  as  interfering 
with  the  work  of  teaching  and  preaching.  Look  ye  out  therefore. 
The  calling  together  of  the  multitude  of  believers  was  not  democratic 
in  appearance  only.  The  appointment  of  new  officers  of  the  com- 
riiunity  was  to  be  made  by  the  community  itself,  subject  only  to  sug- 
gestions from  the  apostles.  Seven.  Why  they  suggested  this  number, 
we  do  not  know.  Presumably  they  thought  that  the  business  called 
for  about  seven  men,  and  this  number  had  a  certain  sacredness  of 
association.  Full  of  the  Spirit.  More  accurately  '  full  of  spirit.' 
The  article  is  wanting  in  the  Greek.  (See  Appendix,  Note  i.)  It  is 
notable  that  the  apostles  put  first  the  spiritual  qualification  even  of 
those  men  who  were  to  have  to  do  with  *  tables.'  They  assume  that 
their  hearers,  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Christian  community,  can  tell 
who  have  been  touched  by  the  Spirit.  Thus  it  is  plain  that  they 
thought  of  the  presence  of  the  Spirit  as  being  practically  and  un- 
mistakably made  known.  We  may  appoint.  Wherein  this  appoint- 
ment consisted  is  told  in  vs.  6. 

4.  In  prayer.  Or  *  in  the  prayer  '  —  the  same  Greek  as  in  i  ;  14. 
There  is,  however,  no  reason  for  limiting  it  to  any  particular  prayer, 
public  or  private,  in  the  temple  or  at  home. 

5.  The  whole  multitude.  It  satisfied  both  the  Hebrews  and  the 
Hellenists.  Stephen.  The  qualifications  of  Stephen  are  specially 
mentioned.  His  work  already  showed  him  as  a  man  of  faith  and 
spiritual  power,  Philip.  The  only  one  of  the  Seven  besides  Stephen 
who  is  mentioned  elsewhere  in  the  N.T.  It  is  significant  that  all 
the  seven  names  are  Greek  and  that  one  of  the  Seven,  Nicolas,  was  a 
Gentile.  It,  of  course,  does  not  follow  from  the  Greek  names  that  the 
bearers  were  all  Hellenists,  for  Palestinian  Jews,  as  Andrew  and 
Philip,  sometimes  had  Greek  names,  but  the  fact  reasonably  suggests 
that  a  considerable  number  of  the  Seven  were  from  the  Dispersion. 
This  in  turn  favors  the  view  that  the  Hellenistic  element  among  the 
disciples  at  this  time  was  large. 

74 


ACTS  6 : 9 

Timon,  and  Parmenas,  and  Nicolas  a  proselyte  of  An- 

6.  tioch  :  whom  they  set  before  the  apostles  :  and  when 
they  had  prayed,  they  °laid  their  hands  on  them. 

7.  And  the  °word  of  God  increased;  and  the  number 
of  the  disciples  multiphed  in  Jerusalem  exceedingly; 
and  a  great  °company  of  the  priests  were  obedient  to 
the  faith. 

The  Career  of  Stephen^  6  :  8-7  :  60 

8.  And  Stephen,   °full  of  grace  and  power,  wrought 

9.  °great  wonders  and  signs  among  the  people.    But  there 

6.  Laid  their  hands  on  them.  Laying  on  of  hands  is,  in  Acts, 
associated  both  with  the  healing  of  disease  (9:17;  28  :  8)  and  with 
the  bestowal  of  spiritual  power  (8:17).  It  was  an  ancient  Jewish 
custom  (see  Dt,  34 :  9),  and  a  part  of  various  ordinations  in  the 
synagogue.  In  the  present  instance  it  would  seem  to  have  been 
observed  as  a  venerable  rite  connected  with  ordination  to  a  certain 
work  rather  than  as  a  vehicle  of  the  impartation  of  the  Spirit's  power, 
for  it  was  a  prime  condition  of  the  choice  of  the  Seven  that  they  should 
be  '  full  of  the  Spirit.'  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  apostles  set  apart, 
without  examination  or  question,  those  who  had  been  chosen  by  the 
whole  body  of  believers.  —  The  '  Seven  '  are  a  group  of  unique 
officials.  Luke  gives  them  no  other  name  than  simply  the  numerical 
one,  'The  Seven  '  (21  :  8).  They  were  chosen  to  meet  a  particular 
emergency  in  the  Jerusalem  church,  which  emergency  can  hardly  be 
supposed  to  have  been  permanent.  The  office  may  not  have  sur- 
vived the  great  persecution.  At  least  one  of  the  Seven  left  Jerusalem 
at  that  time  and  returned  to  his  home  in  Caesarea  (21:8).  There  is 
no  indication  of  any  relationship  between  the  Seven  and  the  subse- 
quently chosen  'elders'  (11  :  30). 

7.  The  rapid  extension  of  the  Church  at  this  time  may  have  been 
promoted  by  the  appointment  of  the  Seven.  The  apostles  were  thus 
released  from  all  care  of  the  poor,  and  were  able  to  give  themselves 
entirely  to  their  proper  work;  and  the  testimony  of  believers  as  a 
whole  must  have  increased  in  power  with  the  removal  of  that  which 
had  caused  murmuring.  Word  of  God  increased.  That  is,  its 
power  over  the  community  increased.  Comp.  12  :  24;  19  :  20. 
Company  of  the  priests.  This  was  the  greatest  triumph  of  the  apostles 
thus  far.  Of  these  converted  priests  probably  most  if  not  all  were 
Pharisees. 

75 


ACTS 

arose  certain  of  them  that  were  of  the  synagogue 
called  the  synagogue  of  the  °Libertines,  and  of  the 
Cyrenians,  and  of  the  Alexandrians,  and  of  them  of 

10.  Cilicia  and  Asia,  disputing  with  Stephen.  And  they 
were  °not  able  to  withstand  the  wisdom  and  the  Spirit 

11.  by  which  he  spake.  Then  they  °suborned  men,  which 
said,  We  have  heard  him  speak  blasphemous  words 

12.  against  Moses,  and  against  God.  And  they  °stirred  up 
the  people,  and  the  elders,  and  the  scribes,  and  °came 
upon  him,  and  °seized  him,  and  brought  him  into  the 

(a)  Stephen's  work  and  the  opposition  it  caused,  6 : 8-15 

8.  Full  of  grace.  This  language  may  well  refer  to  the  persua- 
siveness and  spiritual  power  of  the  utterances  of  Stephen.  Comp. 
Lk.  4  :  22.  Great  wonders  and  signs.  This  is  stronger  language  than 
has  yet  been  used  of  the  works  of  the  apostles.  What  these  signs 
and  wonders  of  Stephen  were,  we  are  not  told. 

9.  Libertines.  This  is  a  designation  of  Jews  who  having  once 
been  Roman  slaves  had  been  manumitted,  or  of  the  descendants  of 
such  Jews.    Many  Jews  had  been  taken  to  Rome  by  Pompey  about 

63  B.C. 

It  is  not  certain  how  many  synagogues  are  referred  to  in  this  verse, 
whether  one,  two,  three,  or  five;  but  as  the  Greek  does  not  decide 
the  question,  the  last  supposition  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  most  probable 
on  the  grounds  that  the  cities  and  regions  here  mentioned  were  widely 
separated,  contained  large  numbers  of  Jews,  and  had  each  its  own 
type  of  civilization.  The  fact  that  Stephen  bore  his  witness  to  Christ 
in  these  synagogues  of  the  Grecian  Jews  indicates,  as  does  his  name, 
that  he  himself  was  a  Hellenist. 

10.  Not  able  to  withstand.  Among  those  who  were  not  able  to 
withstand  Stephen  was,  without  much  doubt,  Saul  of  Tarsus  (see 
7  :  58;  8:1).  This  is  a  suggestion  in  regard  to  the  measure  of 
Stephen's  ability.  It  also  suggests  a  possible  source  of  Luke's  ac- 
count. Saul  was  behind  the  scenes  and  knew  both  what  Stephen  had 
said  and  how  it  was  later  perverted  in  the  accusation  against  him. 

11.  Suborned.  The  procedure  suggests  that  what  was  said  against 
Stephen  was  not  an  unbiassed  statement  of  the  facts. 

12.  Stirred  up.  How  sensitive  the  populace  were  in  regard  to 
the  sacredness  of  the  law  and  the  temple,  we  see  again  in  21 :  28-30. 
Came  upon  him.  The  Greek  suggests  sudden  concerted  action. 
Seized   him.     The  Greek  verb  so  translated,  not  found  elsewhere  in 

76 


ACTS  7:2 

13.  council,  and  set  up  °false  witnesses,  which  said,  This 
man  ceaseth  not  to  speak  words  against  this  holy  place, 

14.  and  the  law  :  for  we  have  heard  him  say,  that  this  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  shall  destroy  this  place,  and  shall  change 

15.  the  customs  which  Moses  dehvered  unto  us.  And  all 
that  sat  in  the  council,  °fastening  their  eyes  on  him, 
saw  his  face  as  it  had  been  the  face  of  an  angel. 

7.       And   the   high   priest   said.  Are   °these   things  so? 
2.   And  he  said. 

Brethren  and  fathers,  hearken.     °The  God  of  glory 

the  N.T.,  means  not  only  that  they  laid  violent  hands  on  Stephen,  but 
also  that  they  ruthlessly  dragged  him  along  with  them. 

13-14.  False  witnesses.  These  were  presumably  the  men  spoken 
of  in  vs.  II.  Assuming,  as  we  may,  that  Stephen  was  acquainted 
with  the  words  of  Jesus,  it  is  not  difficult  to  surmise  what  was  the 
basis  of  the  false  witness  against  him.  He  may  have  spoken  of  the 
transitoriness  of  the  Law  and  the  temple,  laying  the  stress  in  his  teach- 
ing on  the  inward  rather  than  the  outward,  as  Jesus  had  done.  Much 
depended  on  the  manner  in  which  he  said  this,  the  setting  in  which  he 
placed  it.  The  witnesses  by  ignoring  all  qualifying  words  set  Stephen 
in  a  false  light. 

15.  Fastening  their  eyes  on  him.  The  spell  which  Stephen's 
appearance  cast  over  all  in  the  sanhedrin  suggests  indeed  that  Luke 
thought  of  a  supernatural  transfiguration  of  his  countenance.  The 
historical  fact  may  well  have  been  profoundly  impressive.  A  man  '  full 
of  grace  and  power,'  '  full  of  the  Spirit  and  of  wisdom,'  whom  none 
of  the  ablest  Hellenists  could  withstand  in  argument,  when  placed  where 
his  Master  had  been  placed  and  put  there  because  he  was  faithful 
to  the  spirit  of  that  Master,  may  have  been  so  filled  with  Christian 
peace  and  a  triumphant  conviction  of  right  that  his  countenance  was 
transfigured.  This  was  truly  of  God,  but  '  supernatural '  only  in  the 
sense  that  it  was  extraordinary.  It  was  in  perfect  accord  with  God's 
spiritual  laws  and  hence  from  that  point  of  view  perfectly  natural. 

(h)  Stephen's  defence,  7:1-53 

1.  These  things.  That  is,  the  charges  preferred  in  5  :  13-14. 
It  is  to  be  expected  therefore  that  the  following  speech  will  be  a 
defence  of  the  accused. 

2.  The  God  of  glory.    This  designation  of  God  —  found  only  here 

77 


ACTS 

°appeared  unto  our  father  Abraham,  when  he  was  in 

3.  ^Mesopotamia,  °before  he  dwelt  in  Haran,  and  said 
unto  him.  Get  thee  out  of  thy  land,  and  from  thy  kin- 
dred, and  come  into  the  land  which  I  shall  shew  thee. 

4.  Then  came  he  out  of  the  land  of  the  Chaldseans,  and 
dwelt  in  Haran  :  and  from  thence,  °when  his  father  was 
dead,  God  removed  him  into  this  land,  wherein  ye  now 

5.  dwell :  and  he  °gave  him  none  inheritance  in  it,  no, 
not  so  much  as  to  set  his  foot  on  :  and  he  °promised 
that  he  would  give  it  to  him  in  possession,  and  to  his 

in  the  N.T.  —  is  based  on  such  O.T.  narratives  as  Ex.  24 :  9-18. 
It  is  not  rhetorical,  but  grounded  in  history.  Appeared.  The  O.T. 
speaks  of  no  '  appearance  '  of  God  to  Abraham  until  Gen.  12:7, 
after  he  had  reached  Canaan.  Before  that  time  it  is  said  that  God 
'spoke*  to  him  (Gen.  12  :  i).  The  divergence,  however,  is  not  es- 
sential. Mesopotamia.  See  Gen.  24  :  10,  vi^here  the  city  of  Nahor, 
Abraham's  brother,  is  said  to  have  been  in  Mesopotamia.  Comp. 
Gen.  II  :  26,  28.  Before  he  dwelt  in  Haran.  This  is  a  departure 
from  the  O.T.  record.  The  divine  direction  in  Gen.  12  :  i,  the  words 
of  which  are  quoted  in  vs.  3,  was  given  in  Haran  (see  Gen.  11  :  31-32), 
and  the  O.T.  says  nothing  of  any  communication  with  Abraham 
before  this. 

3.  This  is  the  language  of  Gen.  12  :  i,  with  the  omission  of  a  single 
clause  that  does  not  materially  alter  the  sense  of  the  divine  command. 

4.  When  his  father  was  dead.  According  to  the  record  in  the  O.T. 
Terah  lived  sixty  years  after  Abraham  left  him  and  went  to  Canaan. 
See  Gen.  11  :  26;  12  :  4.  Whether  this  departure  from  the  Scripture 
record  on  Stephen's  part  was  an  error  of  memory  or  was  due  to  some 
tradition  is  not  known. 

5.  Gave  him  none  inheritance.  Abraham  sojourned  in  Canaan 
as  a  nomad  chief,  and  grew  rich  in  it  (Gen.  13  :  1-12),  but  it  appears 
from  Gen.  23  that  he  did  not  acquire  a  title  to  any  part  of  the  country. 
When  Sarah  died,  he  bought  the  field  of  Ephron  (Gen.  23  :  17), 
and  this  was  made  sure  to  him  for  a  possession.  Now  since  Stephen 
was  well  acquainted  with  this  purchase  (see  vs.  16),  it  seems  likely 
that  he  did  not  regard  a  purchase  by  Abraham  as  a  gift  of  God  to 
him.  Promised.  The  first  promise  was  that  the  land  should  be  given 
to  Abraham's  seed  (Gen.  12  :  7),  then  to  him  and  to  his  seed  forever 
(Gen.  13  :  15).  Stephen  is  not  concerned  to  show  in  what  sense  and 
how  far  the  promise  was  fulfilled  to  Abraham  himself  and  how  far 
to  his  seed. 

78 


ACTS  7:11 

6.  seed  after  him,  when  as  yet  he  had  no  child.  And  °God 
spake  on  this  wise,  that  his  seed  should  sojourn  in  a 
strange  land,  and  that  they  should  bring  them  into 
bondage,  and  entreat  them  evil,  four  hundred  years. 

7.  And  the  nation  to  which  they  shall  be  in  bondage  will 
I  judge,  said  God  :    and  after  that  shall  they  come 

8.  forth,  and  °serve  me  in  this  place.      And  he  gave  him 

the  °covenantof  circumcision  :  °and  so  Abraham  begat   Gen.  17: 
Isaac,  and  circumcised  him  the  eighth  day;   and  Isaac 

9.  begat  Jacob,  and  Jacob  the  twelve  patriarchs.  And  the 
patriarchs,  moved  with  °jealousy  against  Joseph,  °sold 

10.  him  into  Egypt :  and  God  was  with  him,  and  delivered 
him  out  of  all  his  afflictions,  and  gave  him  favour  and 
wisdom  before  Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt;   and  he  made 

11.  him  governor  over  Egypt  and  all  his  house.    Now 

there  came  a  famine  over  all  Egypt  and  Canaan,  and  Gen.  41 : 


6.  God  spake.  See  Gen.  15  :  13.  The  word  is  here  changed  from 
the  direct  to  the  indirect  discourse,  but  the  essential  thought  is  un- 
changed. 

7.  Serve  me  in  this  place.  These  words  are  not  a  part  of  the  oracle 
in  Gen.  15,  but  appear  to  have  been  added  from  Ex.  3:12.  But  in 
Exodus  it  is  Mt.  Horeb  where  the  Israelites  shall  worship  Jehovah, 
while  the  words  quoted  in  connection  with  Gen.  15  :  13  refer  plainly 
to  Canaan.  Such  a  blending  and  modification  of  texts  as  this  was 
natural  for  one  who  was  speaking,  less  so  for  a  writer  in  his  study. 

8.  Covenant  of  circumcision.  That  is,  a  compact  whose  outward 
sign  and  pledge  was  circumcision.  See  Gen.  17  :  10.  And  so. 
In  this  new  covenant  relation  with  Jehovah. 

9.  Jealousy.  The  S.V.  has,  in  Gen.  37  :  11,  *  his  brethren  envied 
him,'  either  in  view  of  Jacob's  partiality  or  of  the  splendid  dreams 
which  Joseph  had  dreamed.  Sold  him  into  Egypt.  That  is,  they 
sold  him  to  the  Ishmaelites,  and  they  in  turn  brought  him  into  Egypt 
(Gen.  37  :  28). 

10.  This  verse  consists  of  reminiscences  of  Gen.  39  :  21;  41 :  39, 
40,  43- 

11.  The  famine  to  which  reference  is  made  was  even  more  general, 
according  to  Gen.  41  :  56,  but  this  wider  extent  did  not  concern  the 
story  which  Stephen  was  following. 

79 


ACTS 

great  affliction  :   and  our  fathers  found  no  sustenance. 

12.  But  when  Jacob  heard  that  there  was  corn  in  Egypt, 

13.  he  sent  forth  °our  fathers  the  first  time.  And  at  the 
second  time  Joseph  was  made  known  to  his  brethren; 
and   Joseph's   race   became   manifest   unto   Pharaoh. 

14.  And  Joseph  sent,  and  called  to  him  Jacob  his  father, 

15.  and  all  his  kindred,  °threescore  and  fifteen  souls.  And 
Jacob  went  down  into  Egypt;    and  he  died,  himself, 

16.  and  °our  fathers;  and  °they  were  carried  over  unto 
Shechem,  and  laid  in  the  tomb  that  Abraham  bought 
for  a  price  in  silver  of  the  sons  of  Hamor  in  Shechem. 

17.  But  °as  the  time  of  the  promise  drew  nigh,  which  God 


12.  The  first  half  of  this  verse  is  a  modification  of  Gen.  42  :  2. 
Our  fathers.  That  is,  all  except  Benjamin  (Gen,  42  :  4).  In  the 
preceding  verse  the  expression  naturally  included  him  and  Jacob. 

13.  Based  on  Gen.  45,  but  see  also  Gen.  41  :  12. 

14.  The  private  command  of  Joseph  to  his  brothers  was  followed 
by  the  command  of  Pharaoh  (Gen.  45  :  17).  Threescore  and  fifteen. 
So  is  the  number  given  in  the  Greek  version  of  Gen,  46  :  27,  while  the 
original  has  seventy.  This  number  seventy  includes  Joseph,  his 
wife,  and  two  sons  (see  Gen.  46  :  26),  but  in  the  Septuagint  of  Gen. 
46  :  27  Joseph  is  said  to  have  had  nine  sons. 

15.  Our  fathers.  That  the  patriarchs,  with  the  exception  of  Joseph 
(Gen,  50  :  26),  died  in  Egypt,  as  Stephen  says,  is  not  stated  in  theO,T., 
but  may  be  inferred  therefrom. 

16.  They  were  carried.  According  to  Gen.  50  :  13  Jacob  was 
buried  in  Canaan,  but  no  mention  is  made  of  the  burial  of  his  sons 
with  the  single  exception  of  Joseph  (Gen.  50  :  26),  Even  the  bones  of 
Joseph  remained  in  Egypt  until  the  Exodus,  when  they  were  brought 
away  by  Moses  (Ex.  13  :  19),  and  buried  in  Shechem  in  the  *  parcel 
of  ground  which  Jacob  bought  of  the  sons  of  Hamor'  (Josh.  24  :  32). 
The  two  stories  are  blended  in  Stephen's  speech,  and  some  confusion 
thence  arises.  Jacob  was  buried  in  Machpelah,  Joseph  in  Shechem  ; 
Jacob  bought  the  field  in  Shechem,  Abraham  that  of  Machpelah. 
These  discrepancies  are  pardonable  in  a  speaker  in  Stephen's  cir- 
cumstances, but  hardly  in  a  writer  who  had  access  to  the  original 
narrative. 

17.  As.  This  word  marks  not  a  definite  hour  but  a  measure  or 
degree.     With  the  passing  of  the  time  of  the  promise  something  else 

80 


ACTS  7 :  24 

vouchsafed  unto  Abraham,  the  people  grew  and  mul-  Ex.  1:8 

18.  tipHed  in  Egypt,   till  there  arose  another  king  over 

19.  Egypt,  which  knew  not  Joseph.  The  same  °dealt 
subtilly  with  our  race,  and  evil  entreated  our  fathers, 
that  they  should  cast  out  their  babes  to  the  end  they 

20.  might  not  live.  At  which  season  Moses  was  born, 
and  was  °exceeding  fair;   and  he  was  nourished  three 

21.  months  in  his  father's  house  :  and  when  he  was  cast 
out,  Pharaoh's  daughter  took  him  up,  and  nourished 

22.  him  for  her  own  son.  And  Moses  was  instructed  in 
all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians;   and  he  was  ^mighty 

23.  in  his  words  and  works.  But  when  he  °was  well-nigh 
forty  years  old,  it  came  into  his  heart  to  visit  his  brethren 

24.  the  children  of  Israel.    And  seeing  one  0}  them  suffer 


kept  pace,  viz.,  the  growth  of  the  people  and  the  hostility  of  the  Egyp- 
tians. 

18.  See  Ex.  i  :  8.  This  *  other '  king  is  supposed  to  have  been 
Ramses-Sesostris,  while  Merneptah  II  was  Pharaoh  of  the  Exodus. 

19.  Dealt  subtilly.  That  is,  by  increasing  their  tasks  and  by 
the  attempt  to  destroy  the  male  children.     See  Ex.  i  :  8-19. 

20.  Exceeding  fair.  This  is  an  intensification  of  the  statement  in 
Ex.  2  :  2,  that  Moses  was  a  '  goodly  child.'  The  more  literal  trans- 
lation of  the  margin  in  Acts,  '  fair  unto  God,'  means  the  same  thing. 

21.  See  Ex.  2  :  5-10.  Stephen  passes  over  details,  but  gives  the 
main  facts. 

22.  The  statement  that  Moses  was  instructed  in  all  the  wisdom 
of  the  Egyptians,  though  not  contained  in  the  O.T.,  is  a  natural 
inference  from  his  adoption  by  the  king's  daughter.  Mighty  in  his 
words.  This  does  not  conflict  with  Moses'  self  depreciatory  language 
in  Ex.  4  :  10,  that  he  was  slow  of  speech  and  of  a  slow  tongue.  His 
words  might  be  full  of  power,  and  yet  not  '  eloquent.' 

23.  Well-nigh  forty  years  old.  In  the  original  it  is  only  said  that 
he  was  '  grown  up  '  (Ex,  2:11).  It  is  likely  that  Stephen  followed 
some  Jewish  tradition  both  here  and  in  vs.  30.  Ex.  7  :  7  gives  the 
age  of  Moses  when  he  stood  before  Pharaoh  as  eighty  years,  but  the 
division  of  this  into  two  forties  by  the  flight  into  Midian  is  an  addition 
to  the  text. 

24.  This  is  substantially  according  to  the  original  in  Ex.  2  :  11-12, 
though  less  vivid. 

G  81 


ACTS 

wrong,  he  defended  him,  and  avenged  him  that  was 

25.  oppressed,  smiting  the  Egyptian  :  and  he  supposed 
that  his  brethren  understood  how  that  God  by  his  hand 
was  giving  them  deliverance;  but  they  understood  not. 

26.  And  the  day  following  he  appeared  unto  them  as  they 
strove,  and  would  have  set  them  at  one  again,  saying, 
Sirs,  ye  are  brethren ;  why  do  ye  wrong  one  to  another  ? 

27.  But  he  that  did  his  neighbour  wrong  °thrust  him  away, 

28.  saying.  Who  made  thee  a  ruler  and  a  judge  over  us  ?  Would- 
est  thou  kill  me,  as  thou  killedst  the  Egyptian  yesterday  ? 

29.  And  Moses  °fled  at  this  saying,  and  became  a  sojourner 

30.  in  the  land  of  Midian,  °where  he  begat  two  sons.  And 
when  forty  years  were  fulfilled,  an  angel  appeared  to 
him  in  the  wilderness  of  mount  Sinai,  in  a  flame  of  fire 

31.  in  a  bush.    And  when  Moses  saw  it,  he  wondered  at 

25.  This  verse  is  a  comment  by  Stephen,  but  the  original  does  not 
suggest  on  what  his  view  was  based.  The  last  clause  of  the  verse, 
*  they  understood  not,'  might,  of  course,  be  an  inference  from  the  fol- 
lowing incidents. 

26.  This  is  a  free  version  of  Ex.  2  :  13.  The  insertion  of  '  Sirs, 
ye  are  brethren,'  and  the  thought  of  mutual  wrong-doing  (which  is 
modified  in  the  next  verse)  suit  the  situation  of  Stephen,  but  are  more 
difficult  of  explanation  if  the  speech  is  regarded  as  the  work  of  the 
author  of  Acts. 

27.  Thrust  him  away.  The  Greek  does  not  necessarily  imply  that 
the  wrong-doer  laid  hands  on  Moses.  It  may  only  signify  that  he 
rejected  Moses'  mediatorship.  Comp.  Rom.  11  :  2.  This  is  clearly 
favored  by  vs.  35. 

28.  This  verse  follows  the  Septuagint  version  of  Ex.  2  :  14,  and 
thus  departs  from  the  original  in  adding  the  word  *  yesterday.' 

29.  Fled  at  this  saying.  According  to  the  original,  Moses  fled 
because  Pharaoh  sought  to  kill  him  (Ex.  2  :  15),  but  Pharaoh's 
hostility  was  due  to  the  report  that  Moses  had  killed  an  Egyptian. 
Hence  Stephen's  abridgment  is  essentially  correct.  Where  he  begat 
two  sons.     See  Ex.  4  :  20  ;    18  :  3. 

30.  This  verse  follows  Ex.  3 : 1-2  with  some  variations.  Thus, 
in  the  original,  the  vision  was  near  Horeb,  while  Stephen  mentions 
Sinai;  the  original  has  '  angel  of  Jehovah,'  Stephen  simply  '  an  angel '; 
and  for  the  original  *  out  of  the  midst  of  a  bush  '  Stephen  has  *  in  a 

82 


ACTS  7:37 

the  sight :  and  as  he  drew  near  to  behold,  there  came 
32.   a  voice  of  the  Lord,  I  am  the  God  of  °thy  fathers,  the 

God  of  Abraham,  and  of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob.  And 
^^.  Moses  trembled,  and  durst  not  behold.     And  the  Lord 

said  unto  him.  Loose  the  shoes  from  thy  feet :  for  the 

34.  place  whereon  thou  standest  is  holy  ground.  I  have 
surely  seen  the  affliction  of  my  people  which  is  in 
Egypt,  and  have  heard  their  groaning,  and  I  am  come 
down  to  deliver  them  :    and  now  come,  I  will  send 

35.  thee  into  Egypt.  This  Moses  whom  they  refused, 
saying.  Who  made  thee  a  ruler  and  a  judge  ?  him  hath 
God  sent  to  be  both  a  ruler  and  a  deUverer  °with  the 
hand  of  the  angel  which  appeared  to  him  in  the  bush. 

36.  This  man  led  them  forth,  having  wrought  wonders  and 
signs  in  Egypt,  and  in  the  Red  sea,  and  in  the  wilder- 

37.  ness  forty  years.      This  is  that  Moses,  °which  said  unto 


bush.'  The  mention  of  Sinai  is  natural  in  view  of  the  frequent 
interchange  of  the  names  *  Sinai '  and  *  Horeb  '  (e.g.,  Ex.  19  :  12  ; 
Dt.  5:2;  I  K.  8  :  9.  From  the  use  of  the  words  *  an  angel '  it  appears 
that  the  speaker  did  not  attach  any  special  significance  to  the  definite 
article  of  the  original. 

32.  Thy  fathers.  Both  the  original  and  the  Septuagint  have  *thy 
father,'  which,  according  to  vs.  2,  refers  to  Abraham.  By  the  change, 
Isaac  and  Jacob  are  also  accounted  '  fathers.' 

33.  The  original  order  of  this  word  and  the  preceding  is  inverted 
in  Stephen's  speech.     See  Ex.  3  :  5-6. 

34.  This  verse  gathers  up  the  salient  points  of  Ex.  3  :  7-10. 

35.  Stephen  pauses  a  moment  to  contrast  the  treatment  which 
Moses  had  received  from  his  brethren  with  the  honor  which  God 
bestowed  upon  him.  With  the  hand  of  the  angel.  From  vs.  38 
it  appears  that  Stephen  thought  of  the  angel  who  had  given  Moses  the 
divine  commission  to  go  into  Egypt  as  himself  going  with  him.  It 
was  with  his  '  hand,'  by  his  assistance,  that  Moses  was  able  to  act  as 
ruler  and  deliverer.  But  this  conception  is  not  found  in  the  O.T. 
Like  that  of  Gal.  3  :  19,  it  was  probably  derived  from  Jewish  tradition. 

36.  This  gives  a  summary  of  Moses'  work  as  a  deliverer.  The 
'forty  years  '  rests  on  Ex.  7  :  7  and  Dt.  34  :  7. 

37.  Which  said.     See  Dt.  18  :  15.     Stephen  may  introduce  this 

83 


ACTS 

the  children  of  Israel,  A  prophet  shall  God  raise  up 
unto  you  from  among  your  brethren,  like  unto  me. 

38.  This  is  he  that  was  in  the  °church  in  the  wilderness 
°with  the  angel  which  spake  to  him  in  the  mount  Sinai, 
and  °with  our  fathers  :   who  received  °living  oracles  to 

39.  give  unto  us  :  to  whom  our  fathers  would  not  be 
obedient,  but  °thrust  him  from  them,  and  turned  back 

40.  in  their  hearts  unto  Egypt,  saying  unto  Aaron,  Make 
us  gods  which  shall  go  before  us :  for  as  for  this  Moses, 
which  led  us  forth  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  we  wot  not 

41.  what  is  become  of  him.  And  they  made  a  calf  in  those 
days,  and  brought  a  sacrifice  unto  the  idol,  and  rejoiced 

42.  in  the  works  of  their  hands.  But  God  turned,  and 
°gave  them  up  to  serve  the  host  of  heaven;  as  it  is 
written  in  the  book  of  the  prophets, 

word  of  Moses  to  set  forth  yet  further  his  high  honor  in  God's  service 
in  view  of  the  contrast  in  vs.  39. 

38.  Church.  Rather,  'assembly,'  viz.,  the  children  of  Israel  as- 
sembled to  receive  the  Law  (Ex.  19).  With  the  angel.  In  Gal.  3  :  19 
and  Heb.  2  :  2  the  giving  of  the  Law  was  through  '  angels  ';  here  where 
the  same  event  is  in  mind,  only  one  angel  is  mentioned.  With  our 
fathers.  Here  the  term  'fathers,'  which  in  vs.  11  denoted  Jacob  and 
his  sons  and  in  vs.  12  the  sons  alone,  denotes  the  whole  assembly  of 
Israel.  Moses  was  with  the  angel  and  with  our  fathers,  and  this 
in  view  of  the  next  statement,  and  also  in  view  of  Gal.  3:11,  suggests 
that  he  acted  as  a  middleman  between  the  angel  and  the  children  of 
Israel.  Living  oracles.  These  words  do  not  accord  with  the  accu- 
sation brought  againt  Stephen  in  6 :  13.  The  reference  is  to  what 
Moses  received  from  God  at  Sinai. 

39.  Thrust  him  from  them.  As  the  man  in  Egypt  rejected  the 
mediation  of  Moses,  so  also  did  the  people  of  Israel,  though  God  had 
signally  honored  him. 

40.  This  verse  is  a  close  though  not  exact  citation  from  Ex.  32:1. 
It  suggests  that  the  turning  back  to  Egypt  in  heart  (vs.  39)  was  a 
craving  for  the  idolatrous  form  of  religion  which  they  had  practised 
there. 

41.  The  statement  of  this  verse  is  based  on  Ex.  32  :  4-6. 

42.  Gave  them  up.  The  speaker  saw  a  divine  judgment  in  the 
fact  that  Israel  in  subsequent  years  *  served   the   host  of   heaven.' 

84 


ACTS  7:45 

°Did  ye  offer  unto  me  slain  beasts  and  sacrifices  Amos  5:25- 
Forty  years  in  the  wilderness,  O  house  of  Israel?  ^^ 

43.  And  ye  took  up  the  tabernacle  of  Moloch, 
And  the  star  of  the  god  Rephan, 

The  figures  which  ye  made  to  worship  them: 
And  I  will  carry  you  away  beyond  Babylon. 

44.  Our  fathers  had  the  °tabernacle  of  the  testimony  in 
the  wilderness,  even  as  he  appointed  who  spake  unto 
Moses,  that  he  should  make  it  according  to  the  figure 

45.  that  he  had  seen.  Which  also  °our  fathers,  in  their 
turn,  brought  in  with  Joshua  when  they  entered  on 
the  possession  of  the  nations,  which  God  thrust  out 

Comp.  Rom.  i  :  24,  26.  It  is  not,  however,  manifest  that  Stephen 
regarded  the  worship  of  the  host  of  heaven  as  a  grosser  idolatry  than 
the  worship  of  the  golden  calf.  For  his  fact  he  appealed  not  to  the 
Pentateuch  but  to  the  book  of  the  prophets  (Amos  5  :  25-27).  Did 
ye  offer  ?  The  question  expects  a  negative  answer.  There  were  in- 
deed sacrifices  to  Jehovah  in  the  wilderness  {e.g.,  Ex.  24  :  5),  but  the 
implication  of  the  prophetic  passage  is  that  any  such  sacrifices  were 
practically  negligible  by  the  side  of  Israel's  idolatrous  worship. 

43.  The  Greek  of  this  verse  follows  the  Septuagint  substantially, 
only  that  it  substitutes  'Babylon'  for  '  Damascus.'  The  Septuagint, 
however,  departs  from  the  original.  Thus,  in  the  first  place,  it  treats 
this  verse  as  a  simple  continuation  of  vs.  42,  while  in  reality  it  presents 
a  strong  contrast  to  that  verse,  virtually  an  answer  to  the  question 
which  is  there  asked.  These  two  proper  names  of  heathen  gods  appear 
in  the  Septuagint  where  the  original  has  common  nouns.  Moloch 
(the  'Molech '  and  'Milcom '  of  the  OT.)  was  a  god  of  the  Ammonites 
and  Rephan  may  be  an  erroneous  rendering  of  the  Hebrew  *  Chiun ' 
(Kewan),  i.e.,  Saturn.  Nevertheless,  the  general  assertion  of  the 
verse  is  the  same  as  in  the  Hebrew,  viz.,  that  the  Israelites  were  idola- 
ters. On  this  account,  the  prophet  announced  their  captivity  beyond 
Damascus.  The  appearance  of  the  name  *  Babylon  '  is  due  to  the 
influence  of  the  actual  historical  fulfilment  of  the  word.  The  Jews 
were  indeed  carried  beyond  Damascus,  but,  more  particularly,  they 
were  carried  to  Babylon. 

44.  Tabernacle  of  the  testimony.  This  expression  comes  through 
the  Septuagint.  The  original  has  '  tent  of  meeting  '  (Ex.  27  :  21) ; 
that  is,  the  place  where  God  met  his  people. 

45.  Our  fathers.    Not  the  same  as  in  vs.  38,  but  a  new  generation, 

8S 


>  ACTS 

before  the  face  of  our  fathers,  °unto  the  days  of  David ; 

46.  who  found  favour  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  °asked 

47.  to  find  a  habitation  for  the  God  of  Jacob.    But  Solo- 

48.  mon  built  him  a  house.  Howbeit  the  Most  High 
°dwelleth  not  in  houses  made  with  hands;  as  saith  the 
prophet, 

1,  a    49.  The  heaven  is  my  throne. 

And  the  earth  the  footstool  of  my  feet : 

What  manner  of  house  will  ye  build  me?    saith 

the  Lord : 
Or  what  is  the  place  of  my  rest? 

50.  Did  not  my  hand  make  all  these  things? 

51.  Ye  °stiff necked  and  °uncircumcised  in  heart  and  ears, 


their  successors.  Unto  the  days  of  David,  These  words  are  to  be 
connected  with  the  verb  at  the  beginning  of  the  verse.  The  taber- 
nacle which  was  brought  into  the  land  in  the  time  of  Joshua  continued 
until  the  days  of  David. 

46.  Asked  to  find  a  habitation.     See  2  Sam.  7:17. 

47.  Why  the  privilege  of  building  a  house  for  the  God  of  Jacob 
was  denied  to  David  (i  Chron.  22  :  8;  2  Sam,  7  :  8-1 1)  and  why 
it  was  granted  to  his  son  (i  Chron.  22  :  9-10),  Stephen  does  not  stop 
to  say. 

48.  Dwelleth  not.  This  is  not  the  whole  truth  but  that  part  which 
Stephen's  hearers  needed  to  have  emphasized.  The  temple  was 
indeed  God's  dwelling-place,  his  house  {e.g.,  2  K.  19  :  15;  Ps.  68  :  16; 
Is.  56  :  7),  but  this  truth  was  easily  misunderstood.  It  was  allowed 
to  obscure  the  spirituality  and  the  incomparable  greatness  of  God. 
Looking  at  the  vaster  truth,  Stephen  speaks  as  though  the  lesser  and 
lower  truth  had  no  existence  whatever. 

49-50.  These  verses  are  a  citation  from  Is.  66  :  1-2.  The  one 
notable  departure  from  the  original  is  that  the  last  line  is  changed 
from  an  assertion  to  a  question.  It  is  noteworthy  that  Stephen  ap- 
pealed to  the  OT.  in  support  of  his  spiritual  conception  of  God  and 
his  worship,  and  not  to  Jesus. 

51.  Stiffnecked.  This  was  a  frequent  charge  against  the  ancient 
Israelites  {e.g.,  Dt.  10  :  16;  Ex.  33  :  3,  5).  Uncircumcised  in  heart 
and  ears,  Comp.  Jer.  6  :  10;  9  :  36.  This  accusation,  as  it  virtually 
classed  his  hearers  with  the  Gentiles,  could  not  fail  to  be  most  offensive 
to  them.     Always.    The  entire  course  of  Israel's  history  is  in  mind, 

86 


ACTS  7:55 

ye  do  °always  ^resist  the  Holy  Ghost :  as  your  fathers 

52.  did,  so  do  ye.  ° Which  of  the  prophets  did  not  your 
fathers  persecute  ?  and  they  killed  them  which  shewed 
before  of  the  coming  of  the  Righteous  One;   of  whom 

53.  ye  have  now  become  °betrayers  and  ^murderers;  ye 
who  received  the  law  °as  it  was  ordained  by  angels, 
and  kept  it  not. 

54.  Now  when  they  heard  these  things,  they  were  cut  to 

55.  the  heart,  and  they  °gnashed  on  him  with  their  teeth.  But 
he,  being  °full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  °looked  up  stedfastly 
into  heaven,  and  °saw  the  °glory  of  God,  and  °Jesus 

as  well  as  the  condition  of  his  hearers.     Resist.    The  Greek  verb 
(only  here  in  the  NT.)  implies  violent  opposition. 

52.  Which  of  the  prophets,  See  2  Chron.  36 :  15-16;  Matt. 
23  :  29-35.  Betrayers.  They  had  given  Jesus  over  to  the  Romans 
as  a  malefactor.  Murderers.  Peter  had  made  essentially  the  same 
accusation  (2  :  23;  3  :  14),  but  had  not  used  this  word.  What  Stephen's 
hearers  regarded  as  a  righteous  judicial  execution,  he  branded  as 
murder. 

53.  As  it  was  ordained  by  angels.  The  translation  of  the  verse 
is  difl&cult.  *  As  ordinances  of  angels '  is  closer  to  the  Greek  than  is 
the  text.  The  thought  was  not  derived  from  Scripture  but  from 
tradition.  Neither  [Stephen  nor  his  hearers  regarded  angels  as  the 
ultimate  source  of  the  Law.  In  referring  to  the  giving  of  the  Law  as 
Stephen  does,  the  thought  is  perhaps  that  of  the  glorious  manner  in 
which  it  came  to  Israel.  Even  this  law,  so  ministered  to  them,  they 
had  not  kept.  Stephen  had  been  arraigned  as  a  breaker  of  the  law 
(6  :  13);  this  charge  he  now  hurls  back  against  his  accusers. 

(c)  Stephen's  martyr dom,  7  :  54-8  :  la 

54.  Gnashed.  The  word  suggests  brute  passion.  The  hatred 
and  rage  occasioned  by  Stephen's  speech  were  even  more  intense 
than  those  caused  by  the  words  of  Peter.     See  5  :  33. 

55.  Full  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  That  was  the  impression  made  on 
sympathetic  hearers  by  his  appearance  and  words,  which  were  *  full 
of  grace  and  power.'  See  6:8.  Looked  up  stedfastly.  An  attitude 
of  prayer.  Comp.  Jn.  17:1.  Stephen,  knowing  well  what  awaited 
him  from  these  people  who  had  crucified  Jesus,  looked  away  from  their 
raging  to  God.     Saw.    That  is,  in  a  vision,  which  the  circumstances 

87 


56  ACTS 

56.  standing  on  the  right  hand  of  God,  and  said,  Behold, 
I  see  °the  heavens  opened,  and  °the  Son  of  man  stand- 

57.  ing  on  the  right  hand  of  God.  But  they  cried  out 
with  a  loud  voice,  and  stopped  their  ears,  and  rushed 

58.  upon  him  with  one  accord;  and  they  cast  him  out  of 
the  city,  and  stoned  him  :  and  the  witnesses  laid  down 
their  garments  at  the  feet  of  a  young  man  named  °Saul. 

were  fitted  to  induce.  Glory  of  God.  See  on  vs.  2.  That  he  saw 
a  supernatural  splendor  like  the  Shekinah  of  old  is  the  inference 
of  the  writer  from  the  words  of  Stephen.  Jesus  standing.  In  line 
with  Ps.  no  :  i  and  with  words  of  Jesus  (Mk.  14  :  62),  the 
writers  of  the  N.T.  —  this  passage  alone  excepted  —  speak  of  Jesus 
as  sitting  2it  the  right  hand  of  God  (e.^.,Col.  3  ;  i;  Eph.  i  :  20;  Heb. 
1:3).  The  attitude  of  standing  may  suggest  readiness  to  welcome 
his  faithful  witness. 

56.  The  heavens  opened.  The  ceiling  and  roof  of  the  building 
where  he  stood  were  no  barriers  to  his  ecstatic  gaze.  He  saw  as 
Jesus  did  under  the  open  sky  by  the  Jordan  (Mk.  i  :  10).  The  Son 
of  man.  This  is  the  only  instance  of  the  use  of  this  Messianic  title  in 
the  NT.  outside  the  Gospels.  A  similar  yet  not  identical  title  is 
found  in  Rev.  i  :  13;    14  :  14. 

57.  By  shouting  and  stopping  their  ears  the  enemies  of  Stephen 
gave  outward  expression  to  their  feeling  that  what  he  spoke  was 
blasphemous. 

58.  Death  by  stoning  outside  the  city  was  the  legal  fate  of  one 
who  blasphemed.  See  Lev.  24 :  16,  23.  Another  statutory  detail 
seems  to  have  been  observed,  viz.,  that  the  witnesses  cast  the  first 
stones  (Dt.  17  :  7).  It  was  to  this  end,  apparently,  that  they  laid 
aside  their  garments.  Yet  we  certainly  are  not  to  conclude  from  these 
details  that  Stephen's  death  was  according  to  the  Jewish  law.  There 
is  no  indication  that  any  vote  was  taken.  The  Jews,  moreover,  made 
themselves  liable  to  Roman  punishment  in  that  they,  in  putting 
Stephen  to  death,  assumed  a  prerogative  which  they  no  longer  pos- 
sessed. Saul.  According  to  Paul's  own  statement  he  appears  to  have 
offered  himself  for  this  service.  See  22  :  20.  This  is  our  introduction 
by  name  to  the  most  prominent  character  in  Acts.  It  is  altogether 
probable  that  he  was  one  of  those  Cilician  Jews  who  had  disputed 
with  Stephen  and  who  had  been  no  match  for  him  (6:9).  It  was 
wholly  characteristic  of  his  Pharisaic  zeal  that  he  was  on  hand  at 
Stephen's  murder.  He  is  spoken  of  as  a  *  young  man,'  but  the  Greek 
term,  like  the  English,  is  elastic,  covering  the  long  period  from 
boyhood  or  young  manhood  up  to  middle  age. 

88 


ACTS  8:2 

59.  And  they  stoned  Stephen,  calling  upon  the  Lord,  and 

60.  saying,  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit.  And  he  kneeled 
down,  and  cried  °with  a  loud  voice,  Lord,  °lay  not  this 
sin  to  their  charge.    And  when  he  had  said  this,  he 

8.  °fell  asleep.    And  °Saul  was  consenting  unto  his  death. 

The  great  persecution,  8  :  1-3 

And  there  arose  °on  that  day  a  great  ^persecution 

against  the  church  which  was  °in  Jerusalem;   and  they 

were  °all  scattered  abroad    throughout  the  regions  of 

2.   Judaea  and  Samaria,  °except  the  apostles.    And  °de- 

vout  men  buried  Stephen,  and  made  great  ^lamentation 


59.  This  cry  of  Stephen  suits  the  preceding  vision,  in  which  Jesus 
was  seen  standing  as  though  to  receive  his  disciple.  It  is  the  earliest 
recorded  prayer  addressed  to  Jesus. 

60.  With  a  loud  voice.  The  final  expression  of  his  Christian  com- 
passion, though  addressed  to  Jesus,  was  meant  also  for  the  ears  of 
his  enemies.  Lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge.  Comp.  Lk.  27, :  34. 
Fell  asleep.  The  Greek  word  is  sometimes  used  of  natural  sleep 
{e.g.,  Lk.  22  :  45;  Acts  12  :  6),  but  oftener,  as  here,  of  death.  The 
tranquil  suggestions  of  the  figure  contrast  strikingly  with  the  noisy 
surroundings  of  the  martyr. 

I.  Saul  was  consenting.  This  statement  forms  the  connecting  link 
between  the  story  of  Stephen  and  the  narrative  of  the  subsequent 
persecution,  for  it  was  Saul  who  headed  that  movement  to  annihilate 
the  Church. 

1.  On  that  day.  The  Greek  lays  a  certain  emphasis  on  the  time 
of  the  outbreak  of  persecution.  It  was  on  the  very  day  of  Ste- 
phen's death.  That  event  lighted  the  fire.  Persecution.  The  leaders 
had  been  brought  to  the  point  of  persecuting  before,  but  had  been 
stayed  by  Gamaliel  (5  :  33).  In  Jerusalem.  The  persecution  began 
there,  but  later  extended  even  to  distant  cities.  Comp.  9:1;  26  :  11. 
All  scattered.  Popular  language.  See  vs.  3.  Except  the  apostles. 
How  they,  the  leaders  of  the  hated  sect,  could  remain  in  Jerusalem 
undisturbed,  we  are  not  told.  We  should  have  expected  that  Saul 
would  have  laid  hands  on  them  first  of  all.  Possibly  they  were  more 
moderate  than  Stephen  and  other  Hellenists,  and  consequently  more 
in  favor  with  the  Jerusalem  populace. 

2.  Devout  men.     Both  the  expression  itself  and  the  situation  sug- 

89 


8:3  ACTS 

3.  over  him.  But  Saul  °laid  waste  the  church,  entering 
into  every  house,  and  °haling  men  and  women  commit- 
ted them  to  prison. 

gests  that  these  '  devout  men  *  were  not  Christian  disciples.  Lamenta- 
tion. This  word  also  (only  here  in  the  N.T.)  suggests  that  the  burial 
was  not  conducted  by  Christians. 

3,  Laid  waste.  The  Greek  word  so  translated  —  found  only  here  in 
the  N.T.  —  implies  violence,  and  wherein  that  consisted  the  remainder 
of  the  verse  shows.  Haling.  The  word  suggests  harshness  and  con- 
tempt. On  what  ground  men  and  women  were  imprisoned,  we  are 
not  told.  Even  if  Stephen  had  been  shown  to  be  guilty  of  blasphemy, 
that  proved  nothing  against  the  disciples  in  general.  Yet  it  is  likely 
that  the  accusation  against  them  was  the  same  as  that  against  him. 


90 


Part  II.  —  Beginnings  of  the  World-wide    . 
Mission,  8  : 4-12  :  25 

Philip  and  the  Samaritan  work,  8  :4-25.  8:4 

4.  They  ^therefore  that  were  scattered  abroad  °went 

5.  *  about  preaching  the  word.    And  Philip  went  down  to 
°the  city  of  Samaria,  and  ^proclaimed  unto  them  the 

6.  Christ.     And  °the  multitudes  gave  heed  with  one  ac- 
cord unto  the  things  that  were  spoken  by  Phihp,  when 

7.  they  heard,  and  saw  the  signs  which  he  did.     For  from 
°many  of  those  which  had  unclean  spirits,  they  came 

»  Codex  D  adds  '  through  the  cities  and  villages  of  Judaea.' 


4.  Therefore.  This  particle  is  resumptive  of  the  narrative  in  vs.  i. 
Went  about.  We  might  better  render  the  G  reek  by  *  went  on  through,' 
that  is,  through  the  regions  entered.  The  statement  is  general. 
Luke  may  well  have  known  of  other  evangelistic  incidents  besides  the 
two  which  he  proceeds  to  narrate.  We  may  regard  these  as  repre- 
sentative of  a  larger  class. 

5.  The  city.  That  is,  the  principal  city,  which  in  ancient  times 
bore  the  name  '  Samaria  '  (i  K.  i6  :  24),  but  from  the  time  of  Au- 
gustus, who  gave  it  to  Herod  the  Great,  called  '  Sebaste '  (i.e.,  Augusta). 
As  this  city  was  on  the  highway  from  Jerusalem  to  Caesarea,  which 
was  Philip's  home  (21  :  8),  it  is  probable  that  he  was  journeying 
thither.  Proclaimed  unto  them  the  Christ.  Comp.  9 :  20.  This 
was  the  sole  theme  of  the  first  preaching  to  the  Jews,  and  here  it  was 
the  same  to  the  Samaritans.  As  they  had  the  Pentateuch  and  looked 
for  a  Messiah,  the  way  was  made  ready  for  Philip. 

6.  The  multitudes.  The  response  to  Philip's  message,  accom- 
panied as  that  message  was  with  *  signs,'  reminds  us  of  the  welcome 
given  to  Jesus  at  Sychar,  only  two  or  three  hours'  walk  distant.  Both 
incidents  show  the  Samaritans  to  have  been  particularly  open  to  the 
Gospel. 

7.  Many  of  those  who  had  unclean  spirits.  This  language  sug- 
gests that  not  all  were  healed.     It  is  notable  that  Luke  passes,  un- 

91 


ACTS 

out,  crying  with  a  loud  voice  :    and  many  that  were 

8.  palsied,  and  that  were  lame,  were  healed.  And  there 
was  much  joy  in  that  city. 

9.  But  there  was  °a  certain  man,  Simon  by  name,  which 
beforetime  in  the  city  °used  sorcery,  and  amazed  the 
people  of  Samaria,  giving  out  that  himself  was  °some 

10.  great  one  :  to  whom  they  °all  gave  heed,  from  the  least 
to  the  greatest,  saying.  This  man  is  °that  power  of  God 

11.  which  is  called  Great.     And  they  gave  heed  to  him, 
because  that  of  long  time  he  °had  amazed  them  with 


consciously  as  it  would  seem,  from  those  possessing  unclean  spirits 
to  the  spirits  themselves.  It  is  these  that  are  the  subject  of  the  verb, 
and  the  sentence,  strictly  speaking,  is  ungrammatical.  In  the  v^ork 
of  Jesus  at  the  neighboring  Sychar  there  is  no  trace  of  miracles 
(Jn.  4 :  1-41). 

9.  A  certain  man,  Simon  by  name.  According  to  Justin  Martyr's 
First  Apology  (about  138  a.d.)  Simon  was  himself  a  Samaritan,  born 
in  the  town  of  Gitta.  During  the  reign  of  Claudius  (41-54)  he  was 
in  Rome,  did  many  mighty  acts,  and  was  regarded  as  a  god.  More- 
over, Justin  says  that  in  his  time  almost  all  the  Samaritans  and  a  few 
even  of  other  nations  worshipped  Simon.  Used  sorcery.  The  Greek 
verb  so  translated  is  derived  from  a  noun  which  is  used  in  the  N.T. 
both  in  a  good  sense  (e.^.,Matt.  2  :  i)  and  in  a  bad  one  (Acts  13  :  8). 
It  had  a  wide  application,  and  the  activities  of  those  who  bore  it 
were  manifold.  What  particular  juggleries  or  sorceries  were  prac- 
tised by  Simon,  we  do  not  know.  Some  great  one.  A  vague 
expression,  which  suggests  that  Simon  sought  to  mystify  the  populace. 

10.  All  gave  heed.  It  is  significant  that  this  same  language  is 
used  of  the  popular  response  both  to  Simon  the  sorcerer  and  to  Philip 
the  evangelist.  This  was  doubtless  due  in  some  part  to  the  fact  that 
Philip  wrought  signs  and  Simon  had  done  something  analogous. 
It  is  likely  also  that  Simon  suited  his  teaching  to  the  expectations  of 
the  Samaritans.  If  he  did  so,  he  was  not  altogether  out  of  line  with 
the  message  which  Philip  brought.  That  power  of  God.  The 
Samaritans  regarded  Simon  as  an  incarnation  of  divine  power,  and 
indeed  of  the  chief  divine  power.  This  was  analogous  to  the  early 
Christian  view  (reflected  in  the  Prologue  of  John's  Gospel)  that  the 
Logos  had  become  flesh  in  Jesus. 

11.  Had  amazed  them.  It  appears  that  Simon's  hold  on  the 
people  was  due  mainly  to  his  magic  arts,  not  to  his  teaching.    These 

92 


ACTS  8:15 

12.  his  sorceries.  But  when  they  believed  Philip  preach- 
ing good  tidings  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  °the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  °they  were  baptized, 

13.  both  men  and  women.  And  °Simon  also  himself  be- 
lieved :  and  being  baptized,  he  continued  with  Philip ; 
and  beholding  signs  and  great  miracles  wrought,  °he 
was  amazed. 

14.  Now  when  the  apostles  which  were  at  Jerusalem 
heard  that  °Samaria  had  received  the  word  of  God, 

15.  °they  sent  unto  them  Peter  and  John  :  who,  when  they 
were  come  down,  °prayed  for  them,  that  they  might 


arts,   it   is   to  be  noticed,  'amazed'  people,  while  Philip's  'signs* 
brought  '  much  joy.' 

12.  The  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  This  combination  of  names  prob- 
ably suggests  what  was  the  burden  of  his  preaching,  viz.,  that  Jesus, 
who  had  recently  been  crucified  in  Jerusalem,  and  who  had  risen 
from  the  dead,  was  the  long-expected  Messiah.  They  were  baptized. 
Presumably  they  were  baptized  by  Philip.  There  was  probably 
no  thought  at  that  time  that  the  performance  of  this  rite  was  limited 
to  the  apostles.  Philip  was  a  layman,  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Charities,  yet  he  did  not  hesitate  to  administer  baptism. 

13.  Simon  believed.  What  did  he  believe?  If  the  message  of 
Philip,  then  his  belief,  as  appears  from  subsequent  verses,  was  only 
of  the  head.  It  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to  see  in  the  word  anything 
more  than  a  belief  in  Philip  as  a  greater  magician  than  himself.  He 
was  amazed.  He  could  no  more  understand  Philip's  works  than  other 
people  could  understand  his  own.  Hence  he  continued  with  Philip 
to  learn  his  secret. 

14.  Samaria.  Here  the  city,  not  the  province.  The  name  indeed 
was  the  same,  but  it  is  obvious  that  it  is  here  used  in  the  narrower 
sense.  They  sent.  The  apostles  had  begun  to  act  as  a  body  at  the 
time  of  the  appointment  of  the  Seven.  See  6  :  2.  The  purpose  of  the 
apostles  in  sending  two  of  their  number  to  Samaria  must  be  gathered 
from  what  they  actually  did  there. 

15.  Prayed  for  them.  See  6  :  4.  Doubtless  Philip  too  had  prayed 
for  his  converts.  It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  any  peculiar 
value  was  attributed  to  the  prayer  of  the  apostles  because  of  their 
apostolic  rank.  But  they  had  had  a  longer  and  more  varied  Christian 
experience  than  Philip,  and  more  than  this  they  had  stood  near  to 
Jesus  in  all  his  earthly  life.   It  is,  then,  neither  strange  that  they  prayed 

93 


ACTS 

1 6.  ^receive  the  Holy  Ghost :  for  as  yet  he  was  fallen  upon 
none  of  them  :   °only  they  had  been  baptized  into  the 

17.  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.      Then  laid  they  their  hands 

18.  on  them,  and  °they  received  the  Holy  Ghost.  Now 
°when  Simon  saw  that  ^through  the  laying  on  of  the 
apostles'  hands  the  Holy  Ghost  was  given,  °he  offered 

19.  them  money,  saying,  Give  me  also  this  °power,  that  on 
whomsoever  I  lay  my  hands,  he  may  receive  the  Holy 

20.  Ghost.  But  Peter  said  unto  him,  °Thy  silver  perish 
with  thee,  because  thou  hast  thought  to  obtain  the 

nor  strange  that  their  prayers  made  an  impression  which  those  of 
Philip  had  not  made.  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  petition  was 
doubtless  inspired  by  their  own  experience. 

16.  Only.  This  suggests  that  baptism  into  the  name  of  Jesus 
was  not  considered  a  complete  equipment  for  the  Christian  life.  It 
marked,  as  it  were,  the  first  stage.    Comp.  19  :  5-6. 

17.  They  received.  The  next  verse  suggests  that  there  was  some 
visible  manifestation  on  the  part  of  those  on  whom  the  hands  of  the 
apostles  had  been  laid.  We  may  think  of  ecstatic  speech  (see  2  :  4) 
or  of  signs  done  by  those  who  had  received  the  gift  of  the  Spirit.  See 
6:5,  8;   8:6. 

18.  When  Simon  saw.  Unless  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  had  been 
accompanied  with  some  extraordinary  manifestations,  something  that 
could  be  seen,  Simon  would  have  had  no  ground  for  making  the  ofiFer 
of  money.  Through  the  laying  on  of  the  apostles'  hands.  The  act 
naturally  presented  itself  to  Simon  as  something  magical.  He  offered 
them  money.  This  makes  it  seem  probable  that  his  interest  in  the 
new  doctrine  was  wholly  commercial;  that  he  had  professed  faith  and 
submitted  to  baptism  (vs.  13)  without  any  appreciation  of  the  real 
nature  of  the  Gospel.  And  plainly  he  had  only  a  false  notion  of  the 
Spirit  inasmuch  as  he  imagined  that  the  apostles  could  bestow  the  gift 
at  will.  It  seems  remarkable  that  Simon  did  not  ask  the  apostles 
to  lay  hands  on  him,  that  he  might  experience  this  p)ower  which  was 
manifesting  itself  in  others.  Was  he  perhaps  afraid  of  being  brought 
under  the  power  of  the  apostles  ? 

19.  Power.  The  word  '  authority  '  better  represents  the  Greek. 
Simon  thought  that  if  he  were  duly  authorized,  he  could  mediate  this 
strange  influence,  whatever  it  might  be. 

20.  Thy  silver  perish  with  thee.  A  strong  imprecation.  This 
was  the  first  and  violent  expression  of  his  deep  abomination  of  the 
sin  of  Simon.    Later  his  tone  softened  somewhat.     See  vs.  22. 

94 


ACTS  8:25 

21.  gift  of  God  with  money.  Thou  hast  neither  part  nor 
lot  °in  this  matter  :   for  °thy  heart  is  not  right  before 

22.  God.  Repent  therefore  of  this  thy  wickedness,  and 
pray  the  Lord,  °if  perhaps  the  thought  of  thy  heart 

23.  shall  be  forgiven  thee.     For  I  see  that  thou  art  in  the 

24.  gall  of  bitterness  and  in  the  bond  of  iniquity.  And 
Simon  answered  and  said,  Pray  ye  for  me  to  the  Lord, 
that  none  of  the  things  which  ye  have  spoken  come  upon 
me. 

25.  They  therefore,  when  they  had  ^testified  and  spoken 
the  word  of  the  Lord,  °returned  to  Jerusalem,  and 
preached  the  gospel  to  many  villages  of  the  Samari- 
tans. 


21.  In  this  matter.  Not  the  *  authority  '  to  bestow  the  Spirit's 
gift,  for  it  was  just  this  that  he  wanted  to  buy ;  obviously  he  had  no 
part  in  this.  It  is  better  to  take  the  word  in  a  broader  sense  as  refer- 
ring to  the  Gospel.  Simon  wanted  to  be  as  the  apostles,  able  to  com- 
municate the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  and  Peter  tells  him,  in  substance,  that 
he  has  not  taken  even  the  first  step  toward  this  goal.  Thy  heart  is 
not  right.  Doubtless  Simon  was  intensely  ignorant  regarding  Chris- 
tianity, but  Peter  did  not  regard  this  as  the  root-difiiculty.  It  was 
the  pride  and  selfishness  of  his  heart  that  the  apostle  considered. 

22.  If  perhaps.  The  doubtful  way  in  which  he  refers  to  forgive- 
ness is  in  keeping  with  his  overwhelming  sense  of  the  enormity  of 
Simon's  sin. 

23.  This  verse  gives  the  ground  ('  for  ')  of  the  preceding  call  to 
repentance  and  prayer,  and  this  ground  is  Simon's  personal  condition. 
He  is  not  aware  of  it  himself,  but  his  spiritual  state  is  one  of  extreme 
bitterness  and  bondage. 

24.  Simon  fears,  but  does  not  repent.  He  solicits  the  prayers 
of  Peter  and  John,  but  only  that  he  may  not  be  stricken  by  the  judg- 
ment which  Peter  had  threatened  (vs.  20). 

25.^  Testified.  They  bore  witness  of  what  they  had  seen  and  heard 
in  their  life  with  Jesus.  Returned.  As  the  Greek  verb  is  in  the  im- 
perfect, we  may  better  translate  *  they  set  out  to  return.'  They  left 
the  city  of  Samaria,  but  not  to  go  immediately  to  Jerusalem.  Their 
recent  experience  had  probably  given  them  a  new  sense  of  obligation 
to  these  people,  and  they,  apostles  though  they  were,  became,  through 
Philip's  example,  evangelists  to  the  Samaritans. 

95 


ACTS 

Philip  and  the  Ethiopian,  8 :  26-40. 

26.  But  an  °angel  of  the  Lord  spake  unto  Philip,  sa5dng, 
Arise,  and  go  °towardUhe  south  unto  the  way  that  goeth 
down  from  Jerusalem  unto  Gaza  :   the  same  is  desert. 

27.  And  he  arose  and  went :  and  behold,  a  man  °of  Ethiopia, 

» RVm  at  noon. 


26.  Angel.  See  on  5  :  19.  How  the  message  reached  Philip  is 
treated  as  incidental  by  Luke.  Enough  that  it  reached  him  and  with 
authority.  We  must  suppose  that  Philip  was  still  in  Samaria  when  the 
messenger  came  to  him.  Toward  the  south.  Since  the  direction 
in  which  Philip  was  to  go  was  implied  in  the  goal  set  before  him,  viz., 
the  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Gaza,  and  since,  if  we  translate  the  word 
by  'at  noon  '  (R.V.m.'s),  we  have  a  statement  which  must  have  been 
more  intelligible  to  Philip,  this  second  rendering  is  to  be  preferred. 
Philip  was  accordingly  directed  to  go  to  a  certain  road  at  noon,  and 
probably  to  strike  this  road  at  a  definite  place,  viz.,  the  '  Desert-Gaza.' 
Old  Gaza,  destroyed  58  B.C.,  might,  in  contrast  to  the  New  Gaza, 
which  was  on  the  coast,  be  called  *  desert,'  even  though  partially 
rebuilt.  On  this  understanding  of  the  words,  Philip  was  given  clear 
directions,  which  could  be  carried  out.  It  is,  however,  grammatically 
possible  to  refer  *  the  same '  to  the  road;  but  if  there  was  a  route  from 
Jerusalem  to  Gaza  which  was  '  lonely,'  it  seems  hardly  likely  that  one 
travelling  to  Egypt  would  have  chosen  it.  Moreover,  Philip  was  told 
to  go  to  the  way,  as  though  the  well-known  highway  were  meant; 
but  of  this  Luke  would  hardly  have  said  '  the  same  is  desert.'  The 
distance  from  Jerusalem  to  Gaza  by  way  of  Hebron  and  Bet  Jibrin  is 
about  sixty  miles.  If,  then,  the  Ethiopian  was  to  reach  Gaza  about 
noon  of  a  certain  day,  he  probably  set  out  from  Jerusalem  in  the 
morning  of  the  day  before,  and  whoever  brought  the  message  to  Philip 
must  be  supposed  to  have  been  well  acquainted  with  the  treasurer's 
plans. 

27.  Of  Ethiopia.  Hence  the  man  was  a  Gentile.  Philip  had  just 
worked  among  the  Samaritans,  who  were  partly  Gentile  in  blood; 
now  he  is  to  meet  one  who  is  wholly  Gentile.  The  fact  that  this  man 
had  come  to  Jerusalem  to  *  worship  '  shows  that  he  was  a  proselyte. 
If  the  eunuch  came  from  Meroe,  the  capital  of  Ethiopia  at  this  time, 
he  had  journeyed  considerably  more  than  a  thousand  miles.  Of 
great  authority.  The  high  position  of  this  man  —  treasurer  of  the 
Ethiopian  queen  —  may  account  for  the  extraordinary  means  taken 

96 


ACTS  8:32 


a  eunuch  °of  great  authority  under  °Candace,  queen 
of  the  Ethiopians,  who  was  over  all  her  treasure,  who 

28.  had  come  to  Jerusalem  for  to  worship;  and  he  was 
returning  and  sitting  in  his  chariot,  and  was  ^reading 

29.  the  prophet  Isaiah.     And  the  Spirit  said  unto  PhiUp, 

30.  Go  near,  and  join  thyself  to  this  chariot.  And  Philip 
ran  to  him,  and  heard  him  reading  Isaiah  the  prophet, 
and   said,    °Understandest   thou   what   thou   readest? 

31.  And  he  said,  °How  can  I,  except  some  one  shall  guide 
me  ?    And  he  °besought  PhiUp  to  come  up  and  sit  with 

32.  him.  Now  the  place  of  the  scripture  which  he  was 
reading  was  this. 

He  was  led  as  a  sheep  to  the  slaughter ;  Is,  53  :  7, 

And  as  a  lamb  before  his  shearer  is  dumb, 
So  he  openeth  not  his  mouth : 

to  bring  the  Gospel  to  him.  Candace.  Luke  plainly  regarded  this 
as  a  personal  name.  But  Pliny  says  that  the  queens  of  Ethiopia  had 
borne  this  title  *  many  years,'  and  Strabo  speaks  of  a  queen  to  whom 
it  was  given,  who  ruled  24  B.C.  It  seems,  therefore,  well  established 
that  it  was  a  title. 

28.  Reading  the  prophet  Isaiah.  Not  only  so,  but  reading  a 
Messianic  passage  in  Isaiah.  See  vss.  32-33.  Thus  as  the  Lord  had 
prepared  an  evangelist  for  the  eunuch,  so  he  had  prepared  the  eunuch 
for  the  evangelist. 

30.  Understandest  thou  ?  This  question  was  natural,  for,  in  the 
first  place,  the  man  was  doubtless  recognized  by  Philip  as  a  Gentile, 
and  secondly,  the  passage  which  Philip  heard  him  reading,  which  for 
him,  at  least,  was  Messianic,  had  not  been  given  a  Messianic  interpre- 
tation by  the  Jews. 

31.  How  can  I?  These  words  are  rightly  regarded  as  indicating 
a  modest  spirit.  As  a  Gentile,  and  probably  not  very  familiar  with 
the  Jewish  Scriptures,  he  was  not  likely  to  understand  the  full  sense  of 
the  passage.  Besought  Philip.  Philip  was  of  course  recognized  by 
the  eunuch  as  a  Jew. 

32-33.  This  passage,  quoted  according  to  the  Septuagint  from 
Is.  53  :  7-8  departs  widely  from  the  original,  especially  in  the 
second  verse.  This  departure,  however,  does  not  touch  the  eunuch's 
question,  and  as  for  the  particular  use  which  Philip  made  of  the 
passage  the  narrative  tells  us  nothing. 
H  97 


ACTS 

33.  In  his  humiliation  his  judgement  was  taken  away : 
His  generation  who  shall  declare? 

For  his  life  is  taken  from  the  earth. 

34.  And  the  eunuch  answered  Philip,  and  said,  I  pray 
thee,  °of  whom  speaketh  the  prophet  this?  of  himself, 

35.  or  of  some  other?  And  Philip  opened  his  mouth, 
and  beginning  from  this  scripture,  preached  unto  him 

36.  Jesus.  And  as  they  went  on  the  way,  they  came  unto 
a  certain  water;   and  the  eunuch  saith.  Behold,  here  is 

38.  water;  °what  doth  hinder  me  to  be  baptized?  And 
he  commanded  the  chariot  to  stand  still :  and  they 
both  °went  down  into  the  water,  both  Philip  and  the 

39.  eunuch;  and  he  baptized  him.  And  when  they  came 
up  out  of  the  water,  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  ^caught 
away  Phihp;   and  the  eunuch  saw  him  no  more,  °for 

40.  he  went  on  his  way  rejoicing.  But  Phihp  was  found 
at  °Azotus  :  and  passing  through  he  preached  the 
gospel  to  all  the  cities,  till  he  came  to  Caesarea. 

34.  Of  whom  speaketh  the  prophet  ?  The  circumstance  that  the 
eunuch  was  reading  a  Messianic  passage  of  the  OT.,  and  this  question 
regarding  its  deeper  meaning,  both  favor  the  view  that  he  had  heard 
something  about  Jesus. 

36.  What  doth  hinder  me  to  be  baptized  ?  It  is  evident  from  this 
question  that  Philip  had  not  only  preached  Jesus  as  the  Christ,  but 
had  also  spoken  of  the  individual's  relation  to  his  kingdom,  and  among 
other  things  of  baptism.  It  also  shows  that  the  eunuch  had  accepted 
Jesus  while  Philip  had  been  speaking. 

38.  Went  down  into  the  water.  This  language  is  in  harmony 
with  Rom.  6  :  4  and  Col.  2:12,  which  passages  clearly  presuppose 
that,  when  Paul  wrote,  the  common  mode  of  baptism  was  by  immer- 
sion. 

39.  Caught  away  Philip.  On  the  language  comp.  i  K.  18  :  12; 
Ez.  3  :  14;  I  Thess.  4:17.  As  the  Spirit  had  prompted  Philip  to 
run  to  the  eunuch,  so,  when  his  mission  was  accomplished,  the  same 
Spirit  prompted  him  to  rush  away.  No  adequate  reason  for  a  super- 
natural removal  has  been  suggested.  For  he  went  on  his  way.  The 
eunuch  did  not  search  after  Philip,  but  continued  his  journey. 

40.  Azotus.    The  ancient  Ashdod,  about  twenty  miles  north  of 


ACTS  9:3 

The  conversion  of  Saul,  9 :  i-iq^z. 

9.  But  Saul,  °yet  breathing  threatening  and  slaughter 
against  the  disciples  of  the  Lord,  went  unto  the  high 

2.  priest,  and  asked  of  him  letters  to  °Damascus  °unto 
the  synagogues,  that  if  he  found  any  that  were  °of 
the  Way,   whether  men  or  women,   he  might  bring 

3.  them  bound  °to  Jerusalem.  And  °as  he  journeyed,  it 
came  to  pass  that  he  drew  nigh  unto  Damascus  :  and 
suddenly  there  shone  round  about  him  °a  light  out  of 

Gaza.  Here,  then,  in  the  nearest  town  on  his  way  to  Caesarea,  Philip 
continued  his  evangelistic  work.  When  he  fled  from  Jerusalem,  his 
face  was  toward  Caesarea,  his  home,  but  he  stopped  in  Samaria;  so 
now,  though  journeying  toward  Caesarea,  he  evangelized  the  inter- 
vening cities  along  the  coast. 

1.  Yet  breathing.  The  writer  takes  up  again  the  narrative  of 
Saul,  which  was  dropped  at  8  :  3.  The  interval  of  time  between  the 
two  verses  must  have  been  considerable,  for  during  it  Christianity 
had  been  established  in  Damascus  (see  vss.  10,  14),  if  we  may  assume, 
as  seems  probable,  that  it  was  not  planted  there  until  after  the  scatter- 
ing of  the  disciples  by  persecution.  As  some  of  these  disciples  went 
to  Samaria  (8  :  4),  Phoenicia,  and  Cyprus  (11  :  19),  so  others  went  to 
Damascus. 

2.  Damascus.  This  city,  founded,  according  to  tradition  (see 
Ant.  I,  6.  4),  by  a  great-grandson  of  Noah,  was  about  a  six  days* 
journey  from  Jerusalem  (about  one  hundred  and  forty-five  miles  in 
an  air  line),  and  was  the  home  of  a  very  large  number  of  Jews.  Unto 
the  synagogues.  Saul  evidently  did  not  think  of  the  Christian  move- 
ment as  having  separated  from  the  synagogue.  There  are  said  to  be 
fourteen  synagogues  in  Damascus  at  the  present  time.  Of  the  Way. 
Christianity  is  thus  designated  only  in  Acts.  See  19  :  9,  23;  22  :  4; 
24  :  14,  22.  It  was  a  natural  designation  in  view  of  such  O.T. 
passages  as  Ps.  16  :  11.  The  name  appears  to  have  originated 
among  the  disciples  themselves;  unbelieving  Jews  called  them  a 
*  sect.'  See  24  :  14.  To  Jerusalem.  Where  the  supreme  court  of 
the  Jews  met,  before  which  cases  of  blasphemy  were  to  be  brought. 

3.  As  he  journeyed.  Apparently  he  made  the  journey  on  foot. 
Consider  '  fell,'  '  stood,'  and  '  led  '  in  vss.  4,  7,  8.  A  light  out  of 
heaven.  Evidently  the  writer  thought  of  a  physical  phenomenon, 
for  Saul's  eyes  were  blinded  by  the  light  (vs.  8).  As  the  eyes  of  his 
fellow-travellers  were  not  blinded,  we  are  obliged  to  suppose  either 

99 


ACTS 

4.  heaven  :    and  he  °fell  ^  upon  the  earth,  and  °heard  a 
voice  saying  unto  him,  Saul,  Saul,  °why  persecutest 

5.  thou  me?    And  he  said,  °Who  art  thou.  Lord?    And 

6.  he  said,  I  am  Jesus  whom  thou  persecutest :  but  °rise, 
and  enter  into  the  city,  and  it  shall  be  told  thee  what 

7.  thou  must  do.     And  the  men  that  journeyed  with  him 
stood  speechless,  °hearing  the  voice,  but  beholding  no 

» Codex  D  adds  '  in  a  great  trance. ' 


that  Saul's  eyes  were  peculiarly  sensitive  and  weak,  which  some  pas- 
sages seem  to  imply  (see  Gal.  4  :  15;  6:11;  Acts  23  :  5),  or  that  his 
blinding  was  miraculous.  The  latter  alternative  does  not  appear  to 
have  support  in  Luke's  writings.  Fell,  As  far  as  one  can  judge  from 
Luke's  account  the  light  was  the  cause  of  Paul's  falling  to  the  ground. 
Nor  is  there  anything  improbable  in  this.  A  light  that  actually 
blinded  him  for  days  might  have  prostrated  him  with  the  very  pain 
which  it  caused.  Heard  a  voice.  The  character  of  the  voice  may  be 
inferred  from  the  nature  of  what  it  said.  As  it  brought  an  accusation 
against  Saul,  it  is  most  naturally  to  be  associated  with  his  conscience. 
The  awakening  of  conscience  so  that  a  divine  message  could  come  to 
him  through  it  was  brought  about  by  the  light  which  had  prostrated 
him  to  the  earth.  Why  persecutest  thou  me?  Saul  was  persecuting 
the  disciples  of  Jesus,  yet  he  must  have  known  that  if  their  claims 
were  true,  his  persecution  of  them  was  of  vital  concern  to  their  Master. 
If  this  Master  was  indeed  risen  and  living,  as  his  followers  claimed, 
then  the  persecutor  might  well  expect  to  be  confronted  by  him  in  his 
mad  course  of  persecution. 

5.  Who  art  thou,  Lord  ?  Saul  was  prostrate  and  blind  when  he  heard 
the  voice,  according  to  this  narrative.  His  question,  '  Who  art  thou  ? ' 
was  occasioned  by  the  voice,  not  by  anything  that  he  saw.  We  are 
not,  then,  to  think  of  this  question  as  audible  to  his  companions,  but 
as  asked  in  Saul's  soul.    There  too  was  the  answer  given, 

6.  Rise  and  enter  into  the  city.  The  basis  for  this  message  of 
the  Spirit  was  in  the  situation  itself.  Saul  was  near  Damascus,  and 
in  the  city  there  were,  as  he  must  have  been  very  sure  even  if  he  had 
not  positive  knowledge.  Christian  disciples.  It  was  to  these  that  he 
would  now  naturally  turn  after  hearing  the  voice  of  their  Master; 
for  the  hearing  of  that  voice  assured  him  in  an  instant  that  the  great 
claim  of  the  disciples  was  true, 

7.  Hearing  the  voice.  Better,  as  in  the  margin,  *  sound.'  Comp. 
2:6;   10  :  13;  Jn.  12  :  28-29.    The  passage  in  John  just  cited  throws 

100 


ACTS  9 :  12 

8.  man.  And  Saul  arose  from  the  earth;  and  when  his 
eyes  were  opened,  °he  saw  nothing;   and  they  led  him 

9.  by  the  hand,  and  brought  him  into  Damascus.  And 
he  was  three  days  without  sight,  and  °did  neither  eat 
nor  drink. 

10.  Now  there  was  a  certain  disciple  at  Damascus, 
named  Ananias;  and  °the  Lord  said  unto  him  in  a 
vision,   °Ananias.    And  he  said.  Behold,  I  am  here^ 

11.  Lord.  And  the  Lord  said  unto  him.  Arise,  and  go  to 
the  street  which  is  called  Straight,  and  inquire  in  the 
house  of  Judas  for  one  named  Saul,  a  man  of  Tarsus : 

12.  for  behold,  he  prayeth;  and  he  hath  seen  a  man  named 

light  on  our  text.  A  sound  which,  coming  just  as  it  did,  had  a  definite 
divine  meaning  for  Jesus,  was  declared  by  some  who  heard  it  to  be  the 
voice  of  an  angel,  by  others  more  in  number  to  be  thunder.  Here  in 
Acts,  following  the  blinding  light,  came  a  sound  which  had  a  definite 
meaning  for  Saul,  but  to  his  fellow-travellers  was  only  a  *  sound,* 
or  perhaps  an  unintelligible  heavenly  voice. 

8.  He  saw  nothing.  His  sudden  physical  blindness  argues,  of 
course,  a  physical  objective  cause.  The  light  that  shone  round  atDOUt 
him  was  not  in  his  imagination.  Undoubtedly  the  men  who  journeyed 
with  him  saw  it  (see  22  :  9),  though  Luke  does  not  mention  this  fact. 

9.  Did  neither  eat  nor  drink.  An  experience  analogous  to  that  of 
Jesus  in  the  wilderness.  The  fasting  was  not  a  '  preparation  '  for 
the  approaching  change  in  his  life,  but  simply  a  natural  consequence 
of  the  overwhelming  conviction  which  had  come  over  him.  He  was 
too  absorbed  in  thought  to  care  for  food. 

10.  The  Lord.  That  is,  as  appears  from  vs.  17,  Jesus.  Ananias. 
The  earliest  disciple  outside  of  Palestine  of  whom  we  know  by  name. 

11.  This  verse  receives  light  from  vss.  13, 14,  and  17.  If  he  knew  that 
Saul  was  in  the  city,  he  probably  knew  where  he  was  lodging  —  the 
street  and  house.  Nor  is  there  anything  improbable  in  the  supposition 
that  some  one  who  had  access  to  the  house  of  Judas  reported  to  An- 
anias regarding  the  state  of  Saul.  All  these  details  do  not  touch  the 
divine  element  in  the  story,  viz.,  the  impulse  which  sent  Ananias  with 
a  message  of  peace  to  the  notorious  persecutor  of  the  disciples. 

12.  As  Ananias  had  a  previous  knowledge  of  Saul,  so  Saul,  ac- 
cording to  this  verse,  had  apparently  received  in  some  manner  a 
knowledge  of  Ananias,  that  he  was  a  Christian  disciple  and  probably 
also  that  he  had  power  to  heal.     Such  facts  would  have  formed  a 

lOI 


9:13  ACTS 

Ananias  coming  in,   and  laying  his   hands  on  him, 

13.  that  he  might  receive  his  sight.  But  Ananias  answered, 
Lord,  °I  have  heard  from  many  of  this  man,  how  much 

14.  evil  he  did  to  thy  °saints  at  Jerusalem :  and  here  he  hath 
^authority  from  °the  chief  priests  to  bind  all  that  call 

15.  upon  thy  name.  But  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  Go  thy 
way  :  for  he  is  a  chosen  vessel  unto  me,  to  bear  my  name 
before  the  Gentiles  and  kings,  and  the  children  of  Israel  : 

16.  for  °l  will  shew  him  how  many  things  he  must  sufifer  for 

17.  my  name's  sake.  And  Ananias  departed,  and  entered 
into  the  house;  and  laying  his  hands  on  him  said, 
^Brother  Saul,  the  Lord,  even  Jesus,  °who  appeared  unto 

basis  for  his  vision  —  and  biblical  visions  always  have  a  basis  in  the 
experience  of  the  men  who  see  them. 

13.  I  have  heard  from  many.  This  implies  that  a  considerable 
interval  had  elapsed  since  the  outbreak  of  the  persecution  in  Jeru- 
salem. Saints.  This  designation  of  Christians,  based  on  common 
O.T.  usage  (e.g.,  Ps.  132  :  9;  145  :  10),  characterizes  them  in  relation  to 
God  as  the  name  '  disciple '  characterizes  them  in  relation  to  Christ. 

14.  Authority.  That  was  the  significance  of  the  '  letters '  which 
Saul  had  (vs.  2).  The  chief  priests.  Not  essentially  different  from 
the  statement  in  vs.  i,  — '  the  high  priest.'  It  may  well  have  been 
known  in  Damascus  that  the  high-priestly  families  as  a  whole  were 
zealous  opponents  of  the  new  doctrine. 

16.  This  gives  a  ground  for  the  statement  that  Saul  is  a  *  chosen 
vessel,'  and  rests  upon  the  law  of  the  kingdom  that,  in  God's  sight, 
extraordinary  honor  and  extraordinary  suffering  are  joined.  I  will 
shew  him.  This  was  done  through  Saul's  experience  in  the  service  of 
Christ,  not  in  outward  ways.  We  cannot  refer  the  word  to  such  special 
and  late  announcements  as  those  of  Acts  20  :  23;  21  :  11.  A  large 
part  of  his  sufferings  was  then  past. 

17.  Brother.  This  word  shows  how  completely  Ananias  had 
accepted  the  testimony  regarding  Saul's  changed  condition,  and  his 
destiny  as  a  Christian  evangelist.  Who  appeared  unto  thee  in  the 
way.  Since  there  is  no  indication  that  this  fact  had  been  communi- 
cated to  Ananias  in  the  vision,  we  may  suppose  that  a  general  report 
of  what  had  transpired  near  the  city  had  reached  him  and  that  he, 
led  by  the  vision,  interpreted  it  as  a  message  from  Jesus.  Mayest 
receive  thy  sight.  The  fact  that  Saul  had  been  smitten  with  blindness 
as  he  drew  near  the  city  would  surely  have  been  widely  circulated  in 

I03 


ACTS  9:21 

thee  in  the  way  which  thou  earnest,  hath  sent  me,  that 
thou  °mayest  receive  thy  sight,  and  be  °filled  with  the 

18.  Holy  Ghost.    And  straightway  there  fell  from  his  eyes 
as  it  were  scales,  and  he  received  his  sight ;    and  °he 

19.  arose  and  was  baptized;    and  he  took  food  and  was 
strengthened. 

Paul  in  Damascus,  9  :  196-25 

And  he  was  ^certain  days  with  the  disciples  which  were 

20.  at  Damascus.    And  °straightway  in  the  synagogues 

21.  he  proclaimed  Jesus,  that  he  is  °the  Son  of  God.     And 
°all  that  heard  him  were  amazed,  and  said,  Is  not 

the  three  days.  Filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  was  natural  for  An- 
anias to  infer  from  what  the  Lord  had  said  (vs.  15)  that  he  would  be 
the  means  of  spiritual  blessing  to  Saul  as  well  as  of  physical  healing. 
It  is  not  recorded  indeed  that  this  part  of  Ananias'  mission  was 
fulfilled;  but  Saul's  activity  from  this  time  forward  is  sufl&cient  evi- 
dence that  the  Spirit  of  God  dwelt  in  him  richly. 

18.  It  is  significant  that  both  the  word  '  scales '  and  the  verb 
translated  *  fell  from '  are  used  only  by  Luke  in  the  N.T.,  and  that 
both  were  common  in  medical  writers.  Luke  obviously  thought  of 
the  healing  as  miraculous,  and  we  are  probably  to  put  it  in  the  same 
class  with  the  cures  wrought  by  Paul  and  others.  He  arose.  The 
restoration  of  sight  by  a  Christian  disciple  in  the  name  of  Jesus  may 
well  have  been  the  last  argument  needed  to  induce  Paul  to  receive 
baptism,  which,  presumably,  was  administered  by  Ananias  in  the 
house  of  Judas. 

19.  Certain  days.  Indefinite,  but  apparently  used  by  Luke  of  a 
relatively  short  time.     See  10 :  48;  15  :  36. 

20.  Straightway.  Whether  it  was  after  the  'certain  days'  that 
he  began  to  preach,  or  even  from  their  beginning,  cannot  be  deter- 
mined. The  language  allows  either  view.  The  temperament  of 
Paul  favors  the  latter.  On  the  relation  of  this  verse  to  Gal.  i  :  16-18, 
see  Appendix,  note  5.  The  Son  of  God.  This  title  is  found  in  Acts 
only  here,  but  is  occasionally  used  by  Paul  {e.g.,  2  Cor.  i  :  19;  Eph. 
4  :  13).  With  him  it  is  primarily  a  title  of  the  Messiah.  So,  probably, 
here. 

21.  All  that  heard.  This  expression  is  limited  to  the  unbelieving 
Jews,  as  appears  from  what  follows.     Made  havock.    The  same  word 

103 


ACTS 

this  he  that  in  Jerusalem  °made  havock  of  them  which 
called  on  this  name?  and  he  had  come  hither  for  this 
intent,  that  he  might  bring  them  bound  before  the  chief 

22.  priests.  But  Saul  increased  the  more  in  strength,  and 
confounded  °the  Jews  which  dwelt  at  Damascus,  prov- 
ing that  this  is  the  Christ. 

23.  And  when  °many  days  were  fulfilled,  the  Jews  took 

24.  counsel  together  to  kill  him  :  but  their  plot  became 
known  to  Saul.    And  they  watched  the  gates  also  day 

25.  and  night  that  they  might  kill  him  :  but  °his  disciples 
took  him  by  night,  and  let  him  down  ^through  the  wall, 
lowering  him  in  a  basket. 

PauVs  return  to  Jerusalem  and  departure  for  Tarsus^ 
9 : 26-31 

26.  And  when  he  was  come  to  Jerusalem,  he  assayed  °to 
join  himself  to  the  disciples  :   and  they  °were  all  afraid 

is  found  in  Gal.  i  :  13,  23,  but  not  elsewhere  in  the  N.T.  This  fact 
may  be  simply  a  coincidence,  or  it  may  indicate  that  Luke  had  heard 
the  story  from  Paul  and  had  caught  some  of  his  phraseology. 

22.  The  Jews  which  dwelt  at  Damascus.  This  expression  suggests 
a  widespread  influence,  which  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  the  verb 
*  confounded  '  is  in  the  imperfect  —  '  was  confounding.* 

23.  Many  days.  It  appears  from  27  :  7  that  this  expression  might 
be  used  of  a  period  of  less  than  a  month  ;  and  Luke,  who  alone  em- 
ploys it,  never  uses  it  when  it  can  reasonably  be  supposed  to  denote 
a  period  as  long  as  a  half  year.  See  18  :  11,  18.  It  is  perhaps  prob- 
able that  he  intended  to  designate  a  longer  period  by  this  expression 
than  by  the  '  certain  days  '  of  vs.  19. 

25.  His  disciples.  This  is  evidence  that  Saul  had  labored  some 
time  in  Damascus.  Saul  is  the  only  one  besides  Jesus  of  whom  it  is 
said  in  Acts  that  he  had  '  disciples.'  Through  the  wall.  This  ex- 
pression combined  with  that  of  2  Cor.  11  :  33  may  be  best  explained 
by  the  supposition  that  there  was  a  window  in  the  wall,  possibly  the 
window  of  a  house  which  stood  against  the  wall. 

26.  To  join  himself  to  the  disciples.  Comp.  Gal.  i  :  18.  Were 
all  afraid  of  him.     If  Saul  had  been  absent  from  Jerusalem  three  years 

104 


ACTS  9:30 

27.  of  him,  not  believing  that  he  was  a  disciple.  But 
Barnabas  took  him,  and  brought  him  °to  the  apostles, 
and  declared  unto  them  °how  he  had  seen  the  Lord  in 
the  way,  and  that  he  had  spoken  to  him,  and  how  at 
Damascus  he  °had  preached  boldly  in  the  name  of 

28.  Jesus.    And  he  was  with  them  going  in  and  going 

29.  out  at  Jerusalem,  preaching  boldly  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  :  and  he  spake  and  °disputed  against  the  Grecian 

30.  Jews ;    but  °they  went  about  to  kill  him.    And  when 


in  round  numbers  (Gal.  i  :  18),  it  appears  certain  that  the  disciples 
in  Jerusalem  had  heard  of  the  great  change  in  his  course  of  life.  They 
knew  at  least  that  he  had  not  persecuted  the  Damascus  Christians. 
But  at  the  same  time,  if  Paul  had  spent  the  greater  part  of  the  three 
years  in  retirement  in  Arabia,  and  if,  as  he  seems  clearly  to  indicate, 
his  preaching  in  Damascus  came  at  the  close  of  the  Arabian  sojourn, 
then  it  is  possible  that  the  report  of  this  preaching  had  not  preceded 
him  to  the  capital,  and  hence  the  disciples  may  have  known  simply 
that  Saul  had  had  a  strange  experience  near  Damascus,  that  he  had 
not  carried  out  his  plan  to  persecute  the  Christians,  and  that  he  had 
disappeared  no  one  knew  whither.  Now,  in  such  circumstances,  it 
seems  quite  reasonable  to  suppose  that  if  he  suddenly  appeared  in 
Jerusalem,  the  memory  of  his  savage  persecutions  would  for  a  time 
at  least  neutralize  the  report  of  his  conversion,  and  the  disciples  would 
fear  him  still. 

27.  To  the  apostles.  This  is  qualified  by  the  explicit  declaration 
of  Paul  in  Gal.  i  :  18-19.  How  he  had  seen  the  Lord  in  the  way. 
The  externals  of  the  event  by  Damascus  must  have  been  known  in 
Jerusalem,  but  it  does  not  follow  that  the  disciples  knew  the  inner 
significance  of  that  event  for  Saul.  As  far  as  we  know,  only  Ananias 
was  acquainted  with  the  secret  of  Saul.  Others  could  see  that  Saul's 
life  was  changed,  but  they  would  not  know  how  it  had  come  about 
except  as  he  himself  should  tell  them.  Had  preached  boldly.  This 
fact,  if  the  preaching  preceded  the  sojourn  in  Arabia,  must  of  course 
have  become  known  in  Jerusalem;  but  if  we  follow  2  Cor.  11  :  32-33 
and  Gal.  i  :  16,  and  let  the  preaching  come  after  that  sojourn,  then 
indeed  it  might  not  have  been  known  in  Jerusalem,  for  it  may  have 
continued  only  a  short  time. 

29.  Disputed  against  the  Grecian  Jews.  Paul  was  a  Hellenist  and 
would  naturally  turn  to  these  Jews  from  abroad,  finding  his  way  first 
of  all,  perhaps,  to  the  synagogue  of  the  Cilicians  (6  19).  They  went 
about  to  kill  him.     Saul  had  formerly  been  their  leader  and  was  now 

105 


ACTS 

the  brethren   knew  it,  they   brought   him   °down   to 
Caesarea,  and  sent  him  forth  °to  Tarsus. 

31.  °So  the  church  throughout  all  ° Judaea  and  Galilee 
and  Samaria  had  peace,  being  edified;  and,  walking 
in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  and  in  the  comfort  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  was  multiplied. 

Peter  in  Lydda  and  Joppa,  9:32-43 

32.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  Peter  went  °throughout  all 
parts,  he  came  down  also  to  the  saints  which  dwelt  at 

33.  °Lydda.    And  there  he  found  a  certain  man  named 

turned  against  them.  The  fifteen  days  which  Gal.  i :  18  allows  to 
this  visit  would  doubtless  have  been  quite  long  enough  for  Saul  to 
arouse  a  deadly  enmity  toward  himself. 

30.  This  was  the  second  time  in  his  short  Christian  experience 
that  he  had  been  delivered  from  those  who  sought  his  life.  This 
verse  gives  a  different  reason  for  Saul's  departure  from  Jerusalem 
from  that  of  Acts  22  :  18,  but  the  two  are  not  mutually  exclusive. 
Down  to  Caesarea.  The  fact  that  his  friends  brought  Saul  down  to 
Caesarea,  the  only  city  of  southern  Palestine  which  had  a  good  harbor, 
indicates  that  he  was  to  make  the  journey  to  Tarsus  by  water.  To 
Tarsus.  The  statement  of  the  apostle  in  Gal.  i  :  21  is  general,  and 
designates  the  fields  of  his  missionary  labors  after  he  left  Jerusalem; 
this  statement  of  Acts  is  particular,  and  merely  gives  the  goal  of  his 
journey  from  Caesarea. 

31.  So.  That  is,  because  the  leading  persecutor  had  been  con- 
verted. Judaea  and  Galilee  and  Samaria.  It  is  here  implied  that  the 
persecution  begun  in  Jerusalem,  of  which  Saul  had  once  been  the 
leading  spirit,  had  been  carried  into  all  parts  of  the  land.  This  would 
naturally  follow  also  from  the  fact  that  Saul  had  gone  as  a  persecutor 
to  foreign  cities,  for  he  would  hardly  have  done  this  while  heretics 
at  home  went  unpunished.  Of  the  establishment  of  the  Church  in 
Judaea,  outside  of  Jerusalem,  also  of  its  establishment  in  Galilee,  we 
have  no  knowledge.  We  may  suppose  that  it  had  gone  on  rapidly 
while  Saul  had  been  absent  in  the  east. 

32.  Throughout  all  parts.  The  tour  to  be  described  is  introduced 
as  one  of  a  number  made  throughout  Palestine  from  Jerusalem  as  a 
centre.  Lydda.  About  twenty-four  miles  northwest  from  Jerusalem 
on  the  road  to  Joppa.  Like  Joppa,  it  was  almost  entirely  a  Jewish 
town,  with  but  slight  admixture  of  foreigners. 

106 


ACTS  9:38 

°^neas,  which  had  kept  his  bed  °eight  years;  for  he 

34.  was  palsied.  And  Peter  said  unto  him,  ^neas,  Jesus 
Christ  healeth  thee :    arise,  and  °make  thy  bed.     And 

35.  straightway  he  arose.  And  all  that  dwelt  at  Lydda 
and  in  °Sharon  saw  him,  and  they  turned  to  the  Lord. 

36.  Now  there  was  at  °Joppa  a  certain  disciple  named 
°Tabitha,  which  by  interpretation  is  called  Dorcas  : 
this  woman  was  full  of  good  works  and  almsdeeds 

37.  which  she  did.  And  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days, 
that  she  fell  sick,  and  died  :  and  when  they  had  washed 

38.  her,  they  °laid  her  in  an  upper  chamber.  And  as 
Lydda  was  °nigh  unto  Joppa,  the   disciples,  hearing 

33.  iEneas.  Though  ^neas  is  not  called  a  disciple,  this  appears 
to  be  implied  in  the  statement  that  Peter  was  visiting  the  *  saints.' 
Peter's  cure  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  makes  it  almost  necessary 
to  suppose  that  ^neas  had  faith  in  Jesus.  Eight  years.  See  3  :  2; 
4  :  22;  14 :  8.  Luke  appears  to  have  been  interested  in  details  of 
this  sort. 

34.  The  extreme  simplicity  with  which  cures  mentioned  in  Acts 
were  wrought  contrasts  strikingly  with  the  mystery  and  the  cere- 
monies associated  with  the  alleged  cures  of  the  exorcists  and  sorcerers 
of  those  days.  Make  thy  bed.  He  is  to  assume  the  performance  of  the 
duties  that  belong  to  one  who  is  in  health  and  strength. 

35.  Sharon.  The  maritime  plain  from  the  Sorek  (Nahr  Rubin)  on 
the  south  to  the  Nahr  es  Zerka  on  the  north  (Smith),  about  forty 
miles,  or  to  Carmel  (Buhl),  about  sixty  miles.  The  principal  towns 
were  Lydda,  Joppa,  Antipatris,  and  Caesarea. 

36.  Joppa.  The  port  of  Jerusalem  about  thirty-five  miles  to  the 
northwest.  Tabitha-Dorcas.  The  Aramaic  name  and  its  Greek 
equivalent. 

37.  Laid  her  in  an  upper  chamber.  Perhaps  with  the  thought 
of  summoning  Peter,  for,  in  general,  burial  was  almost  immediately 
after  death. 

38.  Nigh  unto  Joppa.  The  nearness  of  Lydda  to  Joppa  is  given 
as  the  ground  of  sending  for  Peter.  They  would  not  have  thought  of 
sending  to  Jerusalem  for  him.  It  seems  to  follow  that  they  did  not 
think  of  the  restoration  of  Dorcas  to  life.  Had  they  thought  of  that  as 
possible  at  the  hand  of  Peter,  they  would  surely  have  sent  any  distance 
for  him.  Delay  not  to  come.  The  narrative  does  not  indicate  whether 
the  messengers  were  to  tell  Peter  of  the  circumstances  which  had  led 

107 


ACTS 

that  Peter  was  there,  sent  two  men  unto  him,  entreating 

39.  him,  °Delay  not  to  come  on  unto  us.  And  Peter  arose 
and  went  with  them.  And  when  he  was  come,  they 
brought  him  into  the  upper  chamber  ;  and  all  °the 
widows  stood  by  him  weeping,  and  ^shewing  the  coats 
and  garments  which   Dorcas   °made,   while  she  was 

40.  with  them.  But  Peter  °put  them  all  forth,  and  kneeled 
down,  and  °prayed;  and  turning  to  the  body,  he  said, 
Tabitha,  arise.    And  she  opened  her  eyes;   and  when 

41.  she  saw  Peter,  °she  sat  up.  And  he  gave  her  his  hand, 
and  °raised  her  up ;   and  calling  the  saints  and  widows, 

42.  he  presented  her  alive.    And  it  became  known  through- 

43.  out  all  Joppa  :   and  many  believed  on  the  Lord.    And 

to  sending  for  him.  It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  they  would  do  so, 
and  consequently  that  Peter  went  to  Joppa  with  a  general  knowledge 
of  the  situation. 

39.  The  widows.  These  may  have  been  people  whom  Dorcas 
had  aided.  Shewing.  Perhaps  we  should  translate  *  shewing  for 
themselves.'  This  meaning  would  confirm  the  view  that  the  widows 
were  beneficiaries  of  Dorcas,  Made.  Better,  '  was  in  the  habit  of 
making.'  The  presence  of  '  coats '  and  *  garments,'  which  Dorcas 
had  made,  is  explained  if  they  were  in  actual  use,  being  worn  by  the 
*  widows '  themselves. 

40.  Put  them  all  forth.  Possibly  this  was  done  in  memory  of 
the  action  of  Jesus  (Mk.  5  :  40).  It  seems  likely  that  Peter  in  doing 
this  was  hopeful  that  the  dead  would  be  given  back  to  life.  Prayed. 
As  Peter  was  left  alone,  the  narrative  must  go  back  at  last  to  his  own 
report.  In  praying,  Peter  was  following  the  example  of  Jesus  pre- 
liminary to  the  working  of  cures  {e.g.,  Jn.  11  :  41-42).  She  sat  up. 
The  Greek  verb  here  used  is  found  elsewhere  in  the  NT.  only  in  the 
story  of  the  young  man  whom  Jesus  restored  to  life  (Lk.  7  :  15). 

41.  Raised  her  up.  As  she  was  already  sitting  up,  this  clause 
refers  apparently  to  her  rising  from  the  couch  or  whatever  it  may  have 
been  on  which  the  body  had  been  laid.  Peter's  act  indicates  that  he 
believed  the  woman  was  restored  to  health  and  activity,  not  simply 
to  life. 

42.  The  manner  in  which  this  verse  speaks  of  the  event  shows 
clearly  that  it  was  unique,  at  least  in  Joppa  and  that  region.  It  is 
to  be  noted  also  that,  although  many  are  said  to  have  turned  to  the 
Lord  in  consequence  of  the  raising  of  Dorcas,  Peter  did  not  adopt 

108 


ACTS  10 : 3 

it  came  to  pass,  that  he  °abode  many  days  in  Joppa 
with  one  °Simon  a  tanner. 

The  Conversion  of  Cornelius  ^  lo 

10.       Now  there  was  a  certain  man  in  °Caesarea,  Cornelius 
by  name,  a  centurion  of  the  band  called  the  Italian 

2.  °band,  a  °devout  man,  and  one  that  °f eared  God  °with 
all  his  house,  who  gave  much  alms  °to  the  people,  and 

3.  prayed  to  God  alway.     He  °saw  in  a  vision  openly,  as 
it  were  °about  the  ninth  hour  of  the  day,  an  angel  of 

this  method  of  making  converts.  His  address  at  Pentecost  is  rep- 
resented as  having  had  greater  spiritual  results  than  this  miracle 
in  Joppa. 

43.  Abode  many  days.  Perhaps  to  instruct  and  confirm  the 
converts  who  had  been  incidentally  won.  Simon  a  tanner.  Since 
the  business  of  the  tanner  was  regarded  as  unclean  ceremonially, 
Peter's  lodging  with  Simon  points  to  a  certain  liberalizing  which  his 
views  had  undergone  through  his  acquaintance  with  Jesus. 

1.  Csesarea.  Situated  about  thirty-two  miles  north  of  Joppa  and 
sixty-seven  northwest  of  Jerusalem.  Band.  The  cohort  was  a  tenth 
of  a  legion,  and,  from  the  time  of  Augustus,  numbered  four  hundred 
and  fifty  to  six  hundred  men.  Since  Cornelius  is  represented  as  abid- 
ing in  Caesarea,  the  presumption  is  that  the  '  Italian  *  cohort  to  which 
he  belonged  was  located  there. 

2.  Devout.  Cornelius  was  entitled  to  this  designation  as  one  who 
gave  alms  and  prayed  to  God.  The  word  looks  both  Godward  and 
manward,  and  was  apparently  used  to  designate  men  who  had  ac- 
cepted Judaism  as  a  religion  but  not  as  a  cult.  Feared  God.  As 
written  by  a  Christian,  these  words  must  refer  to  the  true  God.  Cor- 
nelius had  probably  learned  of  Jehovah  from  the  Jews.  Comp.  vs. 
22.  Yet  he  had  not  become  a  proselyte.  See  vs.  45;  11  :  18;  15  :  7. 
With  all  his  house.  A  testimony  to  the  earnest  and  winning  char- 
acter of  his  piety.  See  also  vs.  7.  To  the  people.  Not  to  be  limited 
to  the  Jews  dwelling  in  Caesarea,  though  such  were  certainly  objects 
of  his  charity  (vs.  22).  The  word  *  people,'  though  commonly  re- 
ferred to  Israel,  is  used  by  Luke  of  the  Gentiles  as  well  (15:7). 

3.  Saw  in  a  vision.  In  the  same  manner  as  Peter  on  the  next  day 
*  saw '  the  *  great  sheet '  while  in  a  '  trance '  (vs.  10).  Hence  Cornelius 
saw  not  with  the  physical  eyes,  though  he  saw  '  clearly.'  About  the 
ninth  hour,  i.e.,  about   three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.    Cornelius 

Z09 


ACTS 

God  coming  in  unto  him,  and  sa)dng  to  him,  Cor- 

4.  nelius.  And  he,  fastening  his  eyes  upon  him,  and 
being  affrighted,  said.  What  is  it,  Lord?  And  he  said 
unto  him.  Thy  prayers  and  °thine  alms  are  gone  up 

5.  for  a  memorial  before  God.  And  now  send  men  to 
Joppa,  and  fetch  one  Simon,  who  is  surnamed  Peter: 

6.  he  lodgeth  with  one  Simon  a  tanner,  whose  house  is 

7.  by  the  sea  side.  And  when  the  angel  that  spake  unto 
him  was  departed,  he  called  °two  of  his  household-ser- 
vants, and  °a  devout  soldier  of  them  that  waited  on 

8.  him  continually;  and  having  °rehearsed  all  things  unto 
them,  he  sent  them  to  Joppa. 

9.  Now  °on  the  morrow,  as  they  were  on  their  journey, 


was  observing  the  Jewish  hour  of  prayer  (see  3  :  i)  in  his  own  house 
(vs.  30). 

4.  Thine  alms  are  gone  up.  What  was  given  to  men  was  regarded 
by  God  as  a  sacrifice  to  him.    Comp.  Phil.  4:18;  Matt.  25  :  40. 

5-6.  This  message,  like  that  to  Ananias  (9  :  11)  and  that  a  little 
later  to  Peter  (10:  11-16),  doubtless  had  a  basis  in  the  experience 
of  Cornelius.  He  may  well  have  heard  of  Peter,  possibly  from 
Philip  or  in  consequence  of  the  apostle's  work  in  Joppa.  It  is  not 
likely  that  the  vision  gave  him  any  new  details  in  regard  to  Peter. 
What  it  gave  him  was  an  impulse,  an  authorization  which  he  recognized 
as  divine,  to  summon  Peter,  that  he  might  hear  the  Gospel  message 
from  him. 

7.  Two  of  his  household-servants.  Hence,  according  to  vs.  2, 
they  were  in  sympathy  with  his  religious  views.  A  devout  soldier. 
Yet  a  further  illustration,  most  probably,  of  the  influence  of  Cornelius' 
piety.  All  the  three  messengers  were  well  suited  for  the  task  assigned 
them. 

8.  Rehearsed  all  things  unto  them.  That  is,  took  them  fully  into 
his  confidence  in  this  matter,  showing  him  tactful  as  well  as  devout. 

9.  On  the  morrow.  The  timeliness  of  Peter's  vision  is  noteworthy. 
Had  it  been  deferred  another  day,  he  would  not  have  been  prepared 
to  go  to  Caesarea.  Upon  the  housetop.  A  place  frequently  used  in 
Palestine  for  quiet  meditation.  See  Lk.  17:31;  i  Sam.  9  :  25;  2  K. 
23  :  12;  Jer.  19 :  13.  About  the  sixth  hour.  This  is  the  only  N.T. 
passage  which  suggests  (it  does  not  require  it)  that  the  Jews  observed 
the  noon  hour  as  an  hour  for  prayer. 

no 


ACTS 

and  drew  nigh  unto  the  city,  Peter  went  up  °upon  the 

10.  housetop  to  pray,  °about  the  sixth  hour  :  and  he  °be- 
came  hungry,  and  desired  to  eat :  but  while  they  made 

11.  ready,  he  fell  into  a  °trance;  and  he  °beholdeth  the 
heaven  °opened,  and  a  certain  vessel  descending,  as  it 
were  a  great  °sheet,  let  down  by  four  corners  upon  the 

12.  earth  :  wherein  were  all  manner  of  °fourfooted  beasts 
and   creeping  things  of  the   earth  and  fowls   of  the 

13.  heaven.    And  there  came  a  voice  to  him,  Rise,  Peter; 

14.  °kill  and  eat.  But  Peter  said,  Not  so,  Lord ;  for  °I  have 
never  eaten  anything  that  is  common  and  unclean. 

15.  And  a  voice  came  unto  him  again  the  second  time, 
°What  God  hath  cleansed,  make  not  thou  common. 


10.  Became  hungry.  This  circumstance  is  probably  mentioned 
because  of  its  obvious  bearing  on  the  nature  of  the  subsequent  vision. 
Trance.  A  state  of  transport,  in  which  one  is  not  conscious  of  the 
body  (see  2  Cor.  12:2),  and  in  which  the  mind  is  peculiarly  open  to 
heavenly  communications.  The  opposite  of  falling  into  a  trance 
appears  to  be  characterized  in  12  :  11  as  'coming  to  one's  self.' 

11.  Beholdeth.  In  the  trance  state,  with  '  the  mind's  eye.'  The 
same  word  is  used  in  the  story  of  Stephen  (7  :  15).  Opened.  The 
same  Greek  verb  which  is  used  by  Matthew  in  the  account  of  the  vision 
of  Jesus  (Matt.  3  :  16).  Sheet.  The  Greek  word  so  translated, 
found  in  the  N.T.  only  here  and  in  11  :  5,  denotes  a  linen  cloth,  some- 
times a  sail,  and  it  is  possible  that  the  sails  which  Peter  had  seen  from 
the  housetop  —  for  his  house  was  by  the  seaside  —  determined  the 
form  of  the  vision. 

12.  Fourfooted  beasts.  The  creatures  in  the  sheet  were  Levitically 
unclean.     See  vs.  14. 

13.  Kill  and  eat,  Peter  was  hungry  when  he  fell  into  the  trance ; 
and  just  as  our  physical  state  largely  determines  our  dreams,  so  Peter's 
condition  determined  the  form  in  which  the  heavenly  message  came 
to  him. 

14.  I  have  never  eaten.  Peter  still  adhered  firmly  to  the  orthodox 
conception  of  Levitical  purity  in  matters  of  food,  although  his  lodging 
with  a  tanner,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  shows  that  he  was  breaking 
with  the  traditional  conception  of  ceremonial  purity. 

15.  What  God  hath  cleansed.  To  Peter  in  his  trance  state  this 
could  only  mean  that  the  animals  which  he  saw  in  the  sheet  were 


ACTS 

1 6.  And  this  was  done  °thrice  :  and  straightway  the  vessel 
was  received  up  into  heaven. 

17.  Now  while  Peter  was  °much  perplexed  in  himself 
°what  the  vision  which  he  had  seen  might  mean,  be- 
hold, the  men  that  were  sent  by  CorneUus,  °having  made 

18.  inquiry  for  Simon's  house,  stood  before  °the  gate,  and 
^called  and  asked  whether  Simon,  which  was  surnamed 

19.  Peter,  were  lodging  there.  And  while  Peter  thought 
on  the  vision,  the  Spirit  said  unto  him,  ^Behold,  three 

20.  men  seek  thee.  But  arise,  and  get  thee  down,  and 
go  with  them,  ^nothing  doubting :  for  I  have  sent  them. 


clean  and  so  fit  for  his  food.    This  is  the  necessary  logical  sense  of 
the  words  in  this  connection,  when  the  scene  is  understood  literally. 

16.  Thrice.  This  repetition  of  course  implies  not  only  that  the 
underlying  truth  was  important,  but  also  that  Peter  was  hard  to 
convince. 

17.  Much  perplexed.  Peter's  perplexity  did  not  continue  long, 
for  he  seems  to  have  been  still  on  the  roof  when  the  three  messengers 
from  Cornelius  arrived  (vs.  20),  and  the  time  occupied  by  the  trance 
was  probably  only  a  few  moments.  What  the  vision  might  mean. 
Peter  evidently  thought  that  its  true  meaning  was  not  on  the  surface. 
Had  he  taken  it  as  referring  literally  to  the  distinction  between  clean 
and  unclean  food,  it  would  hardly  have  perplexed  him.  Having 
made  inquiry.  The  Greek  verb  suggests  a  somewhat  prolonged  in- 
quiry, which  was  perhaps  due  in  part  to  the  fact  that  the  messengers 
were  foreigners  and  Simon  the  tanner  more  or  less  of  a  social  outcast. 
The  gate.  That  is,  the  large  gate  which  admitted  to  the  inner  court 
of  the  house.  In  this  gate  there  appears  to  have  been,  at  least  some- 
times, a  small  door  (see  12  :  13). 

18.  Called,  Comp.  12  :  13,  where,  instead  of  calling,  the  one  who 
sought  admittance  *  knocked.' 

19.  Behold,  three  men  seek  thee.  We  may  suppose  that  Peter, 
seeing  the  men  from  the  housetop  and  recognizing  them  as  Gentiles, 
brought  them  at  once  into  connection  with  the  vision  which  filled  his 
mind,  and  felt  that  they  had  a  message  for  him.  The  spiritual  char- 
acter of  this  conviction  is  more  evident  in  the  next  verse. 

20.  Nothing  doubting.  Doubt  would  be  natural  because  the 
men  were  doubtless  recognized  as  Gentiles.  I  have  sent  them.  This 
was  a  conviction  born  of  the  Spirit,  a  conviction  mediated  to  Peter's 
mind  by  the  vision  just  seen.     See  vs.  28. 

iza 


ACTS 

21.  And  Peter  went  down  to  the  men,  and  said,  Behold, 
I  am  he  whom  ye  seek  :   what  is  the  cause  wherefore 

22.  ye  are  come?  And  they  said,  CorneUus  a  centurion, 
a  righteous  man  and  one  that  feareth  God,  and  well 
reported  of  by  all  the  nation  of  the  Jews,  was  warned 
0}  God  by  a  holy  angel  to  send  for  thee  into  his  house, 

23.  and  to  hear  words  from  thee.  °So  he  °called  them  in 
and  lodged  them. 

And  °on  the  morrow  he  arose  and  went  forth  with 
them,  and  certain  of  the  brethren  from  Joppa  accom- 

24.  panied  him.  And  °on  the  morrow  they  entered  into 
Caesarea.  And  Cornelius  was  waiting  for  them,  having 
called   together   his    kinsmen   and    his   near    friends. 

25.  And  when  it  came  to  pass  that  Peter  entered,  CorneHus 
met  him,  and  fell  down  at  his  feet,  and  °worshipped 

26.  him.    But  Peter  raised  him  up,  saying,  Stand  up ;   °I 

27.  myself  also  am  a  man.    And  °as  he  talked  with  him, 

22.  The  messengers  put  their  plea  strongly,  as  though  feeling  that 
it  would  require  extraordinary  inducements  to  lead  a  Jew  on  such  a 
mission. 

23.  So.  That  is,  because  of  what  the  Spirit  had  said  to  him  on 
the  housetop  and  because  of  the  force  of  their  appeal.  Called  them  in. 
This  is  evidence  that  he  already  saw  the  meaning  of  the  vision  and 
accepted  it.  He  did  not  longer  make  'common'  what  God  had  cleansed. 
On  the  morrow.  The  messengers  reached  Simon's  house  about  noon. 
The  afternoon  might  well  be  needed  for  preparation  for  the  journey, 
especially  as  Peter  took  some  of  the  Joppa  Christians  with  him. 

24.  On  the  morrow.  It  appears  from  vs.  30  that  they  reached 
Caesarea  about  three  in  the  afternoon,  and  so  were  apparently  a  good 
deal  longer  on  the  way  than  the  messengers  had  been, 

25.  Worshipped  him.  This  homage,  such  as  a  servant  might  render 
to  his  sovereign,  was  remarkable  as  coming  from  a  Roman  officer 
and  paid  to  a  member  of  the  generally  despised  Jewish  race. 

26.  I  myself  also  am  a  man.  On  the  modesty  of  Peter  comp.  3:12. 

27.  As  he  talked  with  him.  This  circumstance  that  as  Peter  en- 
tered the  room  where  the  people  were  awaiting  him  he  conversed  with 
Cornelius  suggests  an  eye-witness.  It  shows  Peter's  tact,  and  must 
have  put  Cornelius  at  his  ease. 

I  113 


ACTS 

28.  he  went  in,  and  findeth  many  come  together  :  and  he 
said  unto  them,  Ye  yourselves  know  how  that  it  is  °an 
unlawful  thing  for  a  man  that  is  a  Jew  to  join  himself 
or  come  unto  one  of  another  nation;  and  yet  °unto  me 
hath   God  shewed  that  I  should  not  call  any  man 

29.  common  or  unclean  :  wherefore  also  I  came  without 
gainsaying,   when   I   was   sent  for.     I   ask   therefore 

30.  with  what  intent  ye  sent  for  me.  And  CorneHus 
said,  °Four  days  ago,  until  this  hour,  I  was  keeping  the 
ninth  hour  of  prayer  in  my  house;   and  behold,  a  man 

31.  stood  before  me  in  bright  apparel,  and  saith,  Cornelius, 
thy  prayer  is  heard,  and  thine  alms  are  had  in  remem- 

32.  brance  in  the  sight  of  God.  Send  °therefore  to  Joppa, 
and  call  unto  thee  Simon,  who  is  surnamed  Peter; 
he  lodgeth  in  the  house  of  Simon  a  tanner,  by  the  sea 

33.  side.  Forthwith  therefore  I  sent  to  thee;  and  °thou 
hast  well  done  that  thou  art  come.    Now  therefore 


28.  An  unlawful  thing.  Not  as  forbidden  by  the  law  of  Moses 
but  by  the  traditions  of  the  elders.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  Greek 
translated  *  unlawful '  is  found  only  here  and  in  the  Epistle  of  Peter 
(i  Pet.  4:3).  Unto  me  hath  God  shewed.  It  was  not  needful  that 
Peter  should  tell  them  how  God  had  showed  him  this  great  truth. 
But  the  case  was  different  when  he  faced  his  critics  in  Jerusalem. 
See  II  :  5-10.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  Peter  regarded  his  vision 
as  containing  a  principle  of  universal  application.  He  speaks  as 
though  feeling  that  he  had  been  uniquely  authorized  to  disregard  a 
regulation  that  still  remained  in  force. 

30.  Four  days  ago.  Counting  the  day  of  the  vision,  the  day  the 
messengers  reached  Joppa,  the  day  Peter  set  out  for  Caesarea,  and  the 
day  he  reached  there,  we  have  four  days,  though  only  seventy-two 
hours  elapsed  between  the  vision  of  Cornelius  and  Peter's  arrival  at 
his  house. 

32.  Therefore.  Here  more  clearly  than  in  vs.  5  the  mission  to 
Joppa  is  represented  as  the  logical  sequence  of  the  prayer  of  Cornelius. 
We  may  suppose,  then,  that  his  prayer,  when  the  angel  appeared,  was 
a  prayer  for  *  more  light.' 

33.  Thou  hast  well  done.  Not  expressive  of  any  sense  of  self- 
importance  on  the  part  of  Cornelius,  but  rather  expressive  of  his 

114 


ACTS 

we  are  all  here  ^present  in  the  sight  of  God,  to  hear  all 
things  that  have  been  °commanded  thee  of  the  Lord. 

34.  And  Peter  opened  his  mouth,  and  said. 

Of  a  truth  °I  perceive  that  God  is  no  respecter  of 

35.  persons  :  but  °in  every  nation  he  that  feareth  him,  and 

36.  worketh  righteousness,  is  acceptable  to  him.  °The 
word  which  he  sent  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  preach- 
ing °good  tidings  of  peace  by  Jesus  Christ  (he  is  Lord 

37.  of  all)  —  that  saying  °ye  yourselves  know,  which  was 
published  ^throughout  all  Judaea,  ^beginning  from  Gali- 

conviction  that  the  hand  of  God  was  in  both  the  summons  of  Peter 
and  Peter's  response.  Present  in  the  sight  of  God.  Cornelius  appears 
to  have  thought  of  God  as  a  present  God,  a  truth  which  he  had  abun- 
dant opportunity  to  learn  out  of  the  Jewish  Scriptures.  Com- 
manded thee  of  the  Lord.  From  the  fact  that  Peter  had  come  in 
response  to  his  request,  Cornelius  could  safely  infer  that  he  had  a 
message. 

34.  I  perceive.  This  word  rests  on  what  Cornelius  had  just  said. 
Peter  accepted  his  statement  that  God  had  communicated  with  him, 
and  yet  he  was  a  Gentile.  Hence  Peter's  new  sense  of  the  O.T.  truth 
that  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons  (Dt.  10  :  17).  What  Peter  saw  in 
the  case  of  Cornelius  was  confirmed  by  his  own  recent  vision. 

35.  In  every  nation.  Peter  proceeds  from  the  particular  to  the 
general.  What  makes  one  Gentile  acceptable  to  God  must  make  all 
acceptable  to  him.  Thus  he  freed  himself  from  the  legalistic  con- 
ception of  God  and  took  the  position  of  the  great  prophets. 

36.  The  word.  If  we  accept  the  marginal  reading  of  this  verse, 
its  connection  with  the  preceding  is  made  somewhat  more  clear. 
The  *  word '  which  God  sent  to  Israel,  i.e.,  the  Gospel,  was  the  full  and 
final  utterance  of  the  truth  enunciated  in  vs.  35.  It  was  *  sent '  in- 
deed to  Israel,  but  the  one  through  whom  it  came  —  Jesus  Christ  — 
is  equally  Lord  of  all,  i.e.,  of  Gentiles  no  less  than  of  Jews.  Good  ti- 
dings of  peace.  On  this  characterization  of  the  Gospel  compare  the 
words  of  Jesus,  Jn.  14  :  27;    16  :  T,y,   also  1  Pet.  5  :  14. 

37.  Ye  yourselves  know.  Peter  assumes  that  these  Gentiles  in 
Caesarea  have  at  least  a  general  knowledge  of  the  great  facts  of  the  new 
religion.  Throughout  all  Judaea.  Peter  gives  prominence  to  *  Judea,* 
perhaps  because  of  its  importance  and  because  his  hearers  were  better 
acquainted  with  it  than  with  the  remoter  Galilee.  Some  writers  take 
*  Judaea  '  here  in  the  sense  of  Palestine  (see  Lk.  1:5),  but  it  is  doubt- 
ful whether  it  was,  strictly  speaking,  ever  so  used  by  N.T.  writers. 


ACTS 

38.  lee,  after  the  baptism  which  John  preached ;  even  ° Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  how  that  °God  anointed  him  with  the 
Holy  Ghost  and  with  power  :  who  went  about  °doing 
good,  and  healing  all  that  were  oppressed  of  the  devil ; 

39.  for  °God  was  with  him.  And  °we  are  witnesses  of  all 
things  which  he  did  both  in  the  country  of  the  Jews,  and 
in  Jerusalem ;  °whom  also  they  slew,  hanging  him  on  a 

40.  tree.    Him  God  raised  up  °the  third  day,  and  gave  him 


As  the  principal  division  of  the  land,  politically  and  religiously,  it 
might  indeed  be  named  alone  in  connections  where  the  whole  land  was 
to  be  understood,  but  that  would  hardly  prove  that  it  was  a  recognized 
designation  of  Palestine.  It  became  such  in  the  time  of  Vespasian. 
It  is  perhaps  possible  that  Luke  occasionally  projected  this  late  usage 
back  into  the  early  times.  Beginning  from  Galilee.  It  is  plain  from 
this  clause  that  Peter  in  this  verse  had  in  mind  the  course  of  Jesus* 
own  ministry,  not  the  publication  of  the  Gospel  by  the  disciples  of 
Jesus,  which  did  not  begin  from  Galilee. 

38.  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  These  words  are  in  apposition  with  *  say- 
ing,' the  object  of  the  verb  *  ye  know  '  in  vs.  37.  The  readers  are 
assumed  to  have  heard  something  about  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  note- 
worthy that  this  verse,  though  so  closely  connected  with  the  last 
grammatically,  does  not,  like  that,  refer  to  the  historical  extension  of 
the  Gospel,  but  gives  Peter's  interpretation  of  what  was  central  in 
the  Gospel.  God  anointed  him.  See  4  :  27.  Peter  doubtless  thought 
of  the  baptism  of  Jesus,  which  is  the  only  time  when  the  Spirit  of  God 
is  said  to  have  come  upon  him  (Mk.  i  :  lo-ii).  It  was  from  that 
time,  not  from  his  birth,  that  he  was  manifestly  clothed  with  *  power.' 
This  'anointing'  constituted  him  the  '  anointed  one,'  i.e.,  the  Christ. 
Doing  good,  and  healing.  The  first  clause  is  general,  the  second 
special.  Peter  gives  prominence,  as  does  the  Gospel  according  to 
Mark,  which  tradition  makes  in  a  sense  Peter's  Gospel,  to  the  works 
of  Jesus.  God  was  with  him.  Peter  thought  of  the  works  of  Jesus 
as  God's  works  through  him.     Comp.  2  :  33;   3  :  13. 

39.  We  are  witnesses.  Not  Peter  and  the  six  Christian  brethren 
from  Joppa,  but  Peter  and  his  fellow-apostles.  Some  knowledge 
of  the  Twelve  seems  thus  to  be  assumed.  Whom  also  they  slew. 
It  is  noticeable  that  here,  when  speaking  to  Gentiles,  Peter  said  nothing 
of  a  divine  purpose  which  was  fulfilled  in  the  death  of  Jesus.    Comp. 

2:  23;    4:  II.  ,         „ 

40.  The  third  day.  When  speaking  to  Jews  m  Jerusalem,  Peter 
omitted  this  detail.     See  2  :  24,  32;  3  :  15. 

116 


ACTS  10 :  44 

41.  to  be  made  manifest,  °not  to  all  the  people,  but  unto 
°witnesses  that  were  chosen  before  of  God,  even  to  us, 
°who  did  eat  and  drink  with  him  after  he  rose  from  the 

42.  dead.  And  he  charged  us  to  preach  unto  the  people, 
and  to  testify  that  this  is  he  which  is  ordained  of  God 

43.  to  he  the  Judge  of  quick  and  dead.  To  him  °bear  all 
the  prophets  witness,  that  through  his  name  °every 
one  that  believeth  on  him  shall  receive  remission  of  sins. 

44.  ° While  Peter  yet  spake  °these  words,  the  Holy  Ghost 

41.  Not  to  all  the  people.  This  negative  aspect  of  the  matter  is 
nowhere  else  expressed.  The  fact  that  people  in  general  did  not  see 
the  risen  one,  and  the  language  of  vs.  40  that  God  '  gave  him  to  be 
made  manifest,'  suggest  at  least  that  the  appearances  were  like  that 
of  which  Paul  speaks  in  Gal.  i  :  16.  Witnesses  that  were  chosen 
before  of  God.  This  language  seems  to  refer  to  the  apostles,  but  the 
appearances  of  the  risen  one  were  by  no  means  limited  to  them. 
Who  did  eat  and  drink  with  him.  Peter  wishes  his  hearers  to  under- 
stand that  he  and  other  witnesses  of  the  risen  Lord  were  absolutely 
convinced  of  the  reality  of  his  appearances.  This  language  is  some- 
what stronger  than  we  should  naturally  derive  from  the  recorded 
facts.  SeeLk.  24  :  41-43;  Jn.  21  :  12-13.  It  seems  to  point  as  clearly 
to  an  objective  appearance  as  the  preceding  words  do  to  one  of  a 
subjective  spiritual  character. 

42.  Comp.  I  :  8;  Lk.  24  :  47.  A  specific  command  to  the  dis- 
ciples to  testify  that  Jesus  is  judge  of  the  living  and  the  dead  is 
nowhere  recorded  in  the  Gospels. 

43.  Bear  all  the  prophets  witness.  It  is  noticeable  that  Peter 
appeals  to  the  prophets  regarding  the  way  of  salvation  through  Jesus 
rather  than  to  words  of  Jesus  himself.  Every  one  that  believeth. 
An  advance  on  2  :  39,  brought  about  chiefly  by  Peter's  experience  in 
Joppa  and  here  in  Caesarea. 

44.  While  Peter  yet  spake.  According  to  11  :  15  it  was  well  tow- 
ard the  beginning  of  his  address  when  the  Spirit  came  upon  his 
hearers.  In  this  case  we  must  suppose  that,  in  the  address,  the  thought 
summarily  expressed  in  vs.  43  was  developed  at  considerable  length. 
These  words.  That  is,  the  gracious  words  about  salvation  for  every 
one  on  the  simple  condition  of  trust  in  Jesus.  Fell.  Luke's  char- 
acteristic term  in  connection  with  the  coming  and  presence  of  the 
Spirit  is  '  filled.'  From  11  :  15  it  appears  that  he  meant  the  same 
thing  when  he  said  that  the  Spirit  '  fell '  upon  people.  The  fact 
that  the  Spirit  had  fallen  on  the  hearers  was  inferred  from  the  same 

117 


ACTS 

45.  °fell  on  all  them  which  heard  the  word.  And  °they  of 
the  circumcision  which  believed  °were  amazed,  as  many 
as  came  with  Peter,  because  that  on  the  Gentiles  also 

46.  was  poured  out  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  For  they 
heard  them  speak  with  tongues,  and  ^magnify  God. 

47.  Then  answered  Peter,  °Can  any  man  forbid  the  water, 
that  these  should  not  be  baptized,  °which  have  received 

48.  the  Holy  Ghost  as  well  as  we?  And  °he  commanded 
them  to  be  baptized  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Then  prayed  they  him  to  tarry  certain  days. 

Peter^s  defence  of  his  Ccesarean  mission,  11:1-18. 

11.  Now  the  apostles  and  the  brethren  that  were  in 
Judaea  heard  that  the  Gentiles  also  had  received  the 

2.  word  of  God.  And  °when  Peter  was  come  up  to  Jeru- 
salem, °they  that  were  of  the  circumcision  contended 

phenomena  (vs.  46)  which  had  marked  the  Spirit's  presence  at  Pen- 
tecost (2:4).  It  should  be  noted  that  the  Spirit  was  given  here 
before  baptism  and  without  laying  on  of  hands.     See  8:17. 

45.  They  of  the  circumcision.  That  is,  the  Christian  Jews  from 
Joppa,  who  had  accompanied  Peter  (vs.  23).  Were  amazed.  They 
had  not  had  the  discipline  which  Peter  had  received. 

46.  Magnify  God.  It  appears  that  here,  as  at  Pentecost  (2  :  11), 
the  speaking  with  tongues  was  not  wholly  unintelligible.  The  Joppa 
Christians  caught  enough  of  what  was  ecstatically  uttered  to  enable 
them  to  tell  what  it  was  all  about. 

47.  Can  any  man  forbid  the  water  ?  The  Greek  implies  a  negative 
answer.  If  Peter  had  any  of  his  hearers  in  mind  as  he  asked  the 
question,  it  must  have  been  his  Jewish  brethren  from  Joppa.  Which 
have  received  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  manifest  fact  is  regarded  by 
Peter  as  an  unanswerable  argument  that  his  Gentile  hearers  were 
entitled  to  baptism.  It  was  nothing  less  than  ocular  evidence  that 
God  had  accepted  them. 

48.  He  commanded  them  to  be  baptized.  Apparently  the  rite 
must  have  been  performed  by  the  brethren  from  Joppa.  Perhaps 
Peter  felt  about  administering  the  rite  as  Paul  did  at  a  later  day. 
See  I  Cor.  i :  17). 

a.   When  Peter  was  come  up.    This  was  after  a  sojourn  of  indefi- 
118 


ACTS  ii:ii 

3.  with  him,  saying,  Thou  wentest  in  to  men  uncircum- 

4.  cised,  and  °didst  eat  with  them.    But  Peter  began,  and 

5.  ^expounded  the  matter  unto  them  in  order,  saying,  I  was 
in  the  city  of  Joppa  praying  :  and  in  a  trance  I  saw  a 
vision,  a  certain  vessel  descending,  as  it  were  a  great 
sheet  let  down  from  heaven  by  four  corners;    and  °it 

6.  came  even  unto  me:  upon  the  which  when  I  had 
fastened  mine  eyes,  I  considered,  and  saw  the  four- 
footed  beasts  of  the  earth  and  wild  beasts  and  creep- 

7.  ing  things  and  fowls  of  the  heaven.    And  I  heard  also 

8.  a  voice  saying  unto  me.  Rise,  Peter;  kill  and  eat.  But 
I  said.  Not  so.  Lord  :  for  nothing  common  or  unclean 

9.  hath  ever  entered  into  my  mouth.  But  a  voice  an- 
swered the  second  time  out  of  heaven.  What  God  hath 

10.  cleansed,  make  not  thou  common.    And  this  was  done 

11.  thrice:  and  all  were  drawn  up  again  into  heaven.    And 

nite  length  in  Caesarea.  See  10 :  48.  They  that  were  of  the  cir- 
cumcision. This  expression  is  not  used  here  of  unbelieving  Jews 
(comp.  Titus  I  :  10),  but,  as  in  Col.  4  :  11,  of  Jewish  Christians.  This 
is  obviously  required  by  vs.  18.  Yet  we  can  hardly  suppose  that  any 
of  the  Twelve  joined  in  the  criticism  of  Peter's  conduct.  Had  they 
done  so,  it  would  probably  have  been  specified. 

3.  Didst  eat  with  them.  That  Peter  went  into  the  house  of  Gen- 
tiles we  are  told  in  chapter  10 ;  that  he  ate  with  them  is  indeed  not 
said,  but  as  he  does  not  deny  the  charge,  there  is  no  reason  to  think 
it  was  false.  See  Gal.  2:12.  Peter,  then,  had  thus  transgressed  the 
ceremonial  law,  and  it  was  for  this  transgression  that  he  was  called  to 
account. 

4.  Expounded.  The  object  of  this  verb  is  to  be  supplied  from 
the  preceding  verse.  It  was  his  intercourse  with  the  uncircumcised 
which  he  *  expounded  '  or  explained. 

5.  It  came  even  unto  me.  This  detail  is  not  found  in  10  :  11,  but  its 
practical  meaning  is  implied,  viz.,  that  Peter  was  able  to  see  the  con- 
tents of  the  '  sheet.' 

9.  As  this  verse  specifies  that  the  voice  was  *  out  of  heaven,* 
it  is  more  explicit  than  the  narrative  in  chapter  10. 

II.  Peter  here  passes  over  his  difl&culty  in  understanding  the  vision. 
See  10 :  17,  19.    That  might  have  diverted  attention  from  the  main 

119 


ii:i2  ACTS 

behold,  forthwith  three  men  stood  before  the  house  in 
which  °we  were,  having  been  sent  from  Caesarea  unto 

12.  me.  And  the  Spirit  bade  me  go  with  them,  °making 
no  distinction.  And  °these  six  brethren  also  accom- 
panied me;    and  °we  entered  into  the  man's  house: 

13.  and  he  told  us  how  he  had  seen  the  angel  standing  in  his 
house,  and  saying.  Send  to  Joppa,  and  fetch  Simon, 

14.  whose  surname  is  Peter;  who  shall  speak  unto  thee 
words,  whereby  thou  shalt  be  saved,  thou  and  all  thy 

15.  house.    And  °as  I  began  to  speak,  the  Holy  Ghost  fell 

16.  on  them,  °even  as  on  us  at  the  beginning.  And  °I  remem- 
bered the  word  of  the  Lord,  how  that  he  said,  John 
indeed  baptized  with  water;   but  ye  shall  be  baptized 

point.  "We  were.  It  is  possible  that  some  one  of  the  six  brethren 
was  also  in  the  house  of  Simon  when  the  three  messengers  came. 
This  plural  would  then  be  explained. 

12.  Making  no  distinction.  That  is,  between  Gentiles  and  Jews, 
though  Peter  has  thus  far  given  no  intimation  that  the  three  men  were 
Gentiles,  except  as  it  is  involved  in  the  vision.  The  words  may  be 
taken  in  essentially  the  same  sense  as  the  corresponding  phrase  in 
10  :  20.  These  six  brethren  also  accompanied  me.  It  seems  probable 
that  these  were  all  who  went  with  him  from  Joppa.  Had  there  been 
other  Jewish  witnesses,  that  fact  would  have  been  indicated.  Peter 
apparently  anticipated  opposition  to  his  course  and  wished  to  be  fully 
able  to  meet  it.  We  entered  into  the  man's  house.  This  is  an  ad- 
mission of  part  of  the  charge  made  in  vs.  3,  for  though  Peter  has  not 
characterized  the  three  men  as  Gentiles,  that  is  involved  in  the  situa- 
tion. 

14.  This  promise  is  not  found  in  the  narrative  of  the  vision  by 
Cornelius,  where,  however,  we  should  have  expected  it  had  these  words 
been  spoken  by  the  angel.  Yet  a  promise  of  this  character  was  really 
implied  in  the  command  of  the  angel  to  send  for  Peter. 

15.  As  I  began  to  speak.  See  on  10  :  44.  Even  as  on  us.  The 
identity  of  spiritual  experience  proved  that  God  made  no  distinction 
between  Jew  and  Gentile  as  regards  the  bestowal  of  his  blessing  in 
response  to  faith, 

16.  I  remembered.  This  reference  shows  that,  in  the  critical 
situation  in  Caesarea,  if  not  before,  Peter  had  come  to  look  on  the 
Lord's  promise  as  having  a  broader  application  than  to  the  apostles 
to  whom  it  was  first  spoken. 

120 


ACTS  11:20 

17.  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  If  then  God  gave  unto  them  the 
like  gift  as  he  did  also  unto  us,  when  we  believed  on 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  was  I,  that  I  could  °with- 

18.  stand  God?  And  when  they  heard  these  things,  °they 
held  their  peace,  and  glorified  God,  saying,  Then  to 
the  Gentiles  also  hath  God  granted  repentance  unto 
life. 

Founding  of  the  church  in  Antiochj  11  :  19-26 

19.  They  therefore  that  were  scattered  abroad  upon  the 
tribulation  that  arose  about  Stephen  travelled  as  far  as 
°Phoenicia,  and  °Cyprus,  and  °Antioch,  speaking  the 

20.  word  to  none  save  °only  to  Jews.  But  there  were  some 
of  them,  °men  of  Cyprus  and  Cyrene,  who,  when  they 

17.  Withstand  God.  He  would  have  '  withstood  '  God  had  he, 
after  having  seen  the  Spirit  poured  out  on  the  Gentiles,  refused  to 
have  Christian  fellowship  with  them. 

18.  They  held  their  peace.  The  evidence  which  had  convinced  him 
convinced  them.  It  does  not  follow  that  they  ceased  to  observe  the 
law  which  Peter  had  violated,  but  only  that  they  ceased  to  regard 
him  as  culpable. 

19.  This  verse  looks  back  (comp.  8  :  4)  to  the  epoch-making  perse- 
cution which  began  at  Stephen's  death.  Phoenicia.  No  details  of 
evangelistic  work  in  Phoenicia  are  given  in  Acts,  but  we  learn  that 
on  Paul's  last  trip  to  Jerusalem  there  were  disciples  in  Tyre 
(21  :  4)  and  that  on  his  voyage  to  Rome  he  was  refreshed  by 
the  Christians  of  Sidon  (27  :  3).  Thus  we  have  incidental 
confirmation  of  the  present  passage.  Cyprus.  Barnabas,  who  was 
a  native  of  Cyprus  (6  :  5),  may  have  been  the  first  to  proclaim  the 
Gospel  there.  Antioch.  Nicolas,  one  of  the  Seven  (6  :  5),  was  a  native 
of  Antioch,  and  he  or  some  other  disciple  whose  home  was  there 
was  probably  the  first  bearer  of  the  new  faith  to  that  city.  Only  to 
Jews.  This  statement  is  probably  not  to  be  pressed.  Philip  had 
preached  to  the  Samaritans  and  to  the  Ethiopian  proselyte,  and  there 
may  have  been  others  as  liberal  as  he.  But  this  first  wave  of  the  new 
religion,  which  was  started  by  the  great  persecution,  reached,  in  gen- 
eral, only  Jews.     So  was  it  in  Antioch. 

20.  Men  of  Cyprus  and  Cyrene.     These  were  not  the  first  Chria- 

121 


ACTS 

were  come  to  Antioch,  spake  unto  the  ^Greeks  also, 

21.  preaching  the  Lord  Jesus.  And  °the  hand  of  the  Lord 
was  with  them  :    and  a  great  number  that  believed 

22.  turned  unto  the  Lord.  And  the  report  concerning 
°them  came  to  the  ears  of  the  church  which  was  in 
Jerusalem  :    and  °they  sent  forth  Barnabas  as  far  as 

23.  Antioch  :  who,  when  he  was  come,  and  had  seen  the 
grace  of  God,  was  glad;  and  he  exhorted  them  all, 
that  with  purpose  of  heart  they  would  cleave  unto  the 

24.  Lord :   °for  he  was  a  good  man,  and  full  of  the  Holy 

tians  to  reach  Antioch.  There  had  already  been  some  preaching  to 
the  Jews  when  they  reached  the  city.  But  these  men  went  farther 
than  their  predecessors  had  gone.  Greeks.  The  text  of  the  Mss.  is 
here  uncertain,  and  editors  are  divided  in  opinion  regarding  it.  The 
context,  however,  strongly  favors  the  reading  of  the  R.V.,  *  Greeks.' 
This  word  is  in  manifest  contrast  with  '  Jews '  in  vs.  19,  but  if  we 
adopt  the  marginal  reading  '  Grecian  Jews,'  this  contrast  is  done  away; 
for,  though  there  was  a  contrast  between  the  Hebrews  of  Palestine 
and  Jews  of  the  Dispersion,  the  '  Jews '  of  vs.  19  must  of  course  be 
supposed  to  have  been  predominantly  Hellenists.  And  the  men  of 
Cyprus  and  Cyrene  were  Hellenists,  so  there  would  have  been  nothing 
extraordinary  in  their  preaching  to  other  Hellenists.  The  term  here, 
as  opposed  to  *  Jews  '  in  vs.  19,  is  to  be  understood  in  the  broad  sense, 
as  including  people  of  any  Gentile  nationality  who  spoke  Greek.  Comp. 
19  :  10;   20  :  21. 

21.  The  hand  of  the  Lord.  See  4  :  28.  The  reference  is  to  God. 
In  the  next  clause,  however,  the  word  '  Lord '  may  be  referred  to  God 
(see  14:  15;    15:  1 9),  or  possibly  to  Jesus. 

22.  Them.  That  is,  most  naturally,  the  Greek  converts.  They 
sent  forth  Barnabas.  The  purpose  of  this  mission  is  not  directly 
given.  If  we  may  infer  the  aim  from  what  Barnabas  actually  did 
in  Antioch,  then  it  was  simply  to  give  aid  to  a  new  and  important 
work.  It  is  noteworthy  that  it  was  a  Hellenist  rather  than  a  Hebrew, 
a  disciple  rather  than  an  apostle,  who  was  sent  to  Antioch ;  also  that 
there  is  no  indication  of  an  extraordinary  gift  of  the  Spirit  to  the 
converts  in  Antioch  such  as  is  recorded  in  connection  with  the  mis- 
sion of  Peter  and  John  to  Samaria  (8  :  17). 

23.  There  is  nothing  said  of  instructions  from  Jerusalem  or  of  any 
authorization  of  the  new  movement  in  Antioch.  There  is  no  trace  of 
ofl&cialism  in  the  relation  of  Barnabas  to  the  Christians  of  Antioch. 

24.  For  he  was  a  good  man.    The  author,  or  the  source  from  which 

122 


ACTS 

Ghost  and  of  faith  :   and  much  people  was  added  unto 

25.  the  Lord.    And  he  went  forth  to  Tarsus  °to  seek  for 

26.  Saul :  and  when  he  had  found  him,  °he  brought  him 
unto  Antioch.  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  even  for  a 
whole  year  °they  were  gathered  together  with  the 
church,  and  taught  much  people;  and  that  °the  dis- 
ciples were  called  ^  Christians  first  in  Antioch. 

The  mission  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  to  Jerusalem^ 
II  127-30 

27.  Now  °in  these  days  there  came  down  ^prophets  from 

28.  Jerusalem  unto  Antioch.    ^  And  there  stood  up  one  of 


»  According  to  Codex  D  we  should  spell  the  new  name '  Chreistians ' ;  another  early 
spelling  was  '  Chrestians.'  '  D  begins  vs.  28  thus :    '  Now  when  we  were  come 

together.' 


he  drew,  seems  to  have  felt  that  not  every  man  who  might  have  been 
sent  from  Jerusalem  would  have  taken  the  same  view  of  the  work  in 
Antioch  that  Barnabas  took, 

25.  To  seek  for  Saul.  Barnabas  would  naturally  go  to  Saul's 
home  to  learn  where  he  was.  Whether  he  found  him  in  Tarsus  or 
elsewhere,  we  do  not  know.  The  last  reference  to  Saul's  movements 
was  in  9  :  30.    Comp.  Gal.  1:21. 

26.  He  brought  him  unto  Antioch.  Saul  was  still  in  his  minority, 
as  it  were.  He  went  to  Antioch  as  the  helper  of  Barnabas,  and  with 
him  *  built  on  another's  foundation,'  which  in  later  times  he  declared 
was  against  his  principles.  See  Rom.  15  :  20.  They  were  gathered 
together.  Luke's  meaning  is  not  altogether  clear.  His  usage  of  the 
verb  here  employed  does  not  favor  the  meaning  that  they  were  '  wel- 
comed '  in  the  Church.  See  Matt.  25  :  35.  His  thought,  then,  is  either 
that  Paul  and  Barnabas  worked  together  for  a  year,  or,  more  probably, 
that  they  were  gathered  with  the  church  of  Antioch  for  a  year,  that  is 
to  say,  they  did  not  work  as  evangelists,  but  rather,  as  the  next  clause 
indicates,  built  up  the  disciples  who  had  been  won  by  others.  The 
disciples  were  called  Christians.  This  name  occurs  elsewhere  in  the 
N.T.  only  in  26  :  28  and  i  Pet.  4  :  16.  Neither  of  those  passages 
throws  additional  light  on  its  origin.  The  fact  that  it  is  found  only 
three  times  in  the  N.T.  is  unfavorable  to  the  supposition  that  it  origi- 

123 


29  ACTS 

them  named  Agabus,  and  signified  by  the  Spirit  that 
there  should  be  °a  great  famine  over  all  the  world  : 

29.  which  came  to  pass  in  the  days  of  Claudius.  And 
the  disciples,  every  man  according  to  his  ability,  °de- 
termined  to  send  relief  unto  the  brethren  that  dwelt 

30.  in  Judaea  :  which  also  they  did,  sending  it  to  °the  elders 
°by  the  hand  of  Barnabas  and  Saul. 

nated  among  believers.  Moreover,  the  form  of  expression  in  this  verse 
—  '  the  disciples  ivere  called  Christians  '  —  clearly  points  to  an  origin 
outside  the  Church. 

27.  In  these  days.  That  is,  sometime  within  the  'whole  year' 
which  Paul  and  Barnabas  spent  in  Antioch.  Prophets.  The  name 
is  used  here  as  in  21  :  10  in  its  narrower  and  less  frequent  meaning  of 
one  who  foretells.    On  its  broader  use  see  Acts  15  :  32. 

28.  A  great  famine  over  all  the  world.  Luke  adds  that  this 
prophecy  was  fulfilled  in  the  reign  of  Claudius  (41-54).  There  are 
here  two  difficulties:  (i)  That  a  Christian  prophet  should  announce 
a  universal  famine,  and  in  consequence  that  the  disciples  in  Antioch 
should  send  contributions  to  Judaea.  If  a  universal  famine  was  at 
hand,  the  disciples  at  Antioch  would  probably  have  been  exhorted  to 
lay  up  something  for  their  own  need.  The  fact  that  they  sent  their 
contribution  to  Judaea  indicates  that  the  prophecy  concerned  Judaea. 
(2)  There  is  no  evidence  of  a  famine  that  was  universal  in  the  Roman 
Empire  in  the  period  41-54  a.d.,  though  there  was  an  unusual 
number  of  local  famines  in  different  parts  of  the  Empire  during  this 
reign,  and  Josephus  tells  of  a  famine  in  Judaea  in  the  period  44-48 
{Ant.  XX,  2.  5;  5.  2;  III,  15.  3).  These  difficulties  may  perhaps  best  be 
met  by  supposing  that  Agabus  spoke  of  Judaea  and  that  the  language 
of  this  verse  was  colored  by  the  fact  that  the  reign  of  Claudius  was 
in  an  especial  degree  marked  by  failure  of  crops. 

29.  Determined  to  send  relief,  i.e.,  when  Agabus  announced  the 
famine.  The  prophecy  was  not  of  something  far  off  in  the  future.  It 
probably  rested  on  knowledge  of  economic  conditions  in  Judaea. 

30.  The  elders.  This  is  our  earliest  reference  to  Christian  elders. 
We  cannot  think  of  the  Seven  (6  :  3)  as  referred  to,  for  our  passage 
makes  no  reference  to  Jerusalem  in  particular  and  certainly  is  not  con- 
sistent with  the  view  that  the  famine  was  limited  to  the  Jerusalem 
church.  The  language  seems  to  imply  that,  at  this  time,  the  churches 
in  Judaea  had  elders,  as  had  the  synagogues.  By  the  hand  of  Barnabas 
and  Saul,  The  statement  that  Saul  went  to  Jerusalem  at  this  time 
is  often  thought  to  conflict  with  Gal.  i  :  18;  2:1,  and  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  there  is  ground  for  this  view.     But  it  is  doubtful  whether 

134 


ACTS 

Persecution  of  Christians  by  Herod,  12  :  1-19 

12.       Now  °about  that  time  °Herod  the  king  put  forth  his 

2.  hands  to  afflict  certain  of  the  church.    And  he  °killed 

3.  James  the  brother  of  John  °with  the  sword.  And  when 
he  saw  that  °it  pleased  the  Jews,  he  proceeded  to  seize 
Peter  also.    And  those  were  the  °days  of  unleavened 

4.  bread.  And  when  he  had  taken  him,  he  put  him 
in  prison,  and  delivered  him  to  °four  quaternions  of 
soldiers  to  guard  him;    intending  °after  the  Passover 

5.  to  bring  him  forth  to  the  people.  Peter  therefore  was 
kept  in  the  prison  :  but  prayer  was  made  earnestly  °of 

6.  the  church  unto  God  for  him.  And  when  Herod  was 
about  to  bring  him  forth,  the  same  night  Peter  was 

this  is  sufficient.  In  those  Galatian  passages  Paul  is  concerned  with 
the  independence  of  his  apostleship  (Gah  i  :  12).  If  he  made  a 
journey  to  Jerusalem  which  did  not  in  any  wise  aflfect  his  apostleship, 
—  its  dependence  or  its  independence,  —  he  was  under  no  obligation 
to  the  Galatians  to  mention  such  a  visit. 

1.  About  that  time.  That  is,  the  time  of  the  mission  of  Paul  and 
Barnabas  to  Jerusalem  in  11  :  30.  Herod  the  king.  Agrippa  I, 
grandson  of  Herod  the  Great.  From  41-44  the  extent  of  his  territory 
was  the  same  as  that  over  which  his  grandfather  had  reigned. 

2.  Klilled  James.  Thus  the  word  of  Jesus,  Mk.  10  :  39,  had 
fulfilment.  "With  the  sword.  So  John  the  Baptist  had  been  executed. 
See  Matt.  14  :  10.  Since  James  was  put  to  death  in  the  Roman 
manner,  it  may  perhaps  be  inferred  that  he  was  held  to  be  an  offender 
against  the  State,  but  in  what  way  we  do  not  know. 

3.  It  pleased  the  Jews.  Notwithstanding  such  expressions  as 
9:31,  the  great  majority  of  the  Jews  were  probably  hostile  toward 
Christianity.  Herod's  act  suggests  the  despot,  acting  from  caprice, 
rather  than  a  just  ruler  who  has  regard  for  law.  Days  of  ujoleavened 
bread.  It  seems  not  unlikely  that  Herod  chose  the  Passover  season 
that  he  might  advertise  himself  as  widely  as  possible  as  one  zealous 
for  the  traditions  of  the  fathers, 

4.  Four  quaternions  of  soldiers.  That  is,  sixteen  guards,  four 
for  each  of  the  four  watches  of  the  night.  After  the  Passover.  As 
Herod  was  careful  to  please  the  Jews,  he  would  naturally  consult 
their  scruples  in  regard  to  the  time  of  Peter's  execution. 

5.  Of  the  church.    That  is,  naturally,  the  church  of  Jerusalem. 


ACTS 

sleeping  between  two  soldiers,  °bound  with  two  chains  : 

7.  and  ^guards  before  the  door  kept  the  prison.  And  be- 
hold, an  angel  of  the  Lord  stood  by  him,  and  °a  light 
shined  in  °the  cell :  and  he  smote  Peter  on  the  side, 
and  awoke  him,  saying,  Rise  up  quickly.    And  °his 

8.  chains  fell  off  from  his  hands.  And  the  angel  said 
unto  him.  Gird  thyself,  and  bind  on  thy  sandals.  And 
he  did  so.    And  he  saith  unto  him.  Cast  thy  garment 

9.  about  thee,  and  follow  me.  And  °he  went  out,  and 
followed;   and  he  wist  not  that  it  was  true  which  was 

10.  done  by  the  angel,  but  ^thought  he  saw  a  vision.    And 
when  they  were  past  °the  first  and  the  second  ward, 

6.  Bound  with  two  chains.  Paul  as  a  prisoner  in  Rome  was 
guarded  by  one  soldier.  See  28  :  16.  It  is  possible  that  the  former 
escape  of  Peter  from  prison  may  have  led  to  extraordinary  precau- 
tions. Guards  before  the  door.  Two  of  the  quaternion  were  free  to 
act  as  guards,  while  the  remaining  two  were  chained  to  the  prisoner. 

7.  A  light  shined.  That  is,  probably,  in  the  writers'  thought, 
from  the  presence  of  the  angel.  Comp.  Lk.  2  :  9.  The  cell.  The 
Greek  does  not  suggest  that  Peter  was  in  a  small  apartment  ('  cell  ') 
by  himself.  The  word  means  simply  *  dwelling-place.'  His  chains 
fell  off.  The  author  evidently  regarded  the  details  of  Peter's  deliv- 
erance as  altogether  supematurally  carried  out.  He  seems  to  have 
thought  that  the  soldiers  were  not  aroused,  for  had  they  been,  then  they 
would  naturally  have  testified  that  Peter's  release  had  been  secured 
by  supernatural  means,  before  which  they  were  powerless,  and  in  that 
case  they  would  scarcely  have  been  put  to  death  (vs.  19). 

9.  He  went  out.  That  is,  through  the  door  that  was  guarded 
(vs.  6).  It  seems  to  be  implied  that  these  obstacles  to  his  escape  were 
overcome  in  the  same  manner  in  which  the  chains  had  fallen  off. 
Thought  he  saw  a  vision.  That  is,  it  seemed  to  him  as  though  he  was 
in  a  dream  or  a  trance.  He  had  no  sense  of  the  reality  of  the  various 
acts  he  was  performing. 

10.  The  first  and  the  second  ward.  It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  the 
first  was  that  of  vs.  6.  What  and  where  the  second  ward  was,  we  do 
not  know,  or  whether  it  consisted  of  one  or  more  of  the  sixteen  soldiers 
appointed  to  guard  Peter  (vs.  4).  They  went  out.  That  is,  forth 
from  the  prison  structure  as  a  whole;  in  vs.  9  the  going  out  was 
from  some  particular  part  of  it.  The  language  is  natural  if  Peter 
was  confined  in  the  great  fortress  of  Antonia  at  the  northwest  comer 

ia6 


ACTS 

they  came  unto  the  iron  gate  that  leadeth  into  the 
city;  which  opened  to  them  of  its  own  accord  :  and 
°^  they  went  out,  and  passed  on  ^through  one  street ;  and 

11.  straightway  the  angel  departed  from  him.  And  °when 
Peter  was  come  to  himself,  he  said.  Now  I  know  of  a 
truth,  that  the  Lord  hath  sent  forth  his  angel  and 
deHvered  me  out  of  the  hand  of  Herod,  and  from  all 

12.  the  expectation  of  the  people  of  the  Jews.  And  when 
he  had  considered  the  thing,  he  came  to  the  house  of 
Mary  the  mother  of  John  whose  surname  was  Mark; 
where  °many  were  gathered  together  and  were  praying. 

13.  And  when  he  knocked  at  °the  door  of  the  gate,  a 

14.  maid  came  to  answer,  named  Rhoda.  And  when  she 
knew  Peter's  voice,  she  opened  not  the  gate  for  joy, 
but  ran  in,  and  told  that  Peter  stood  before  the  gate. 

15.  And  they  said  unto  her,  °Thou  art  mad.    But  she  con- 

»  D  adds  '  they  went  down  the  seven  steps.' 


of  the  temple  area.  The  addition  of  Codex  D  that,  on  going  out,  they 
'  went  down  the  seven  steps,'  sounds  as  though  it  might  be  original. 
Through  one  street.  The  help  given  to  Peter  was  abundant.  He 
was  not  left  at  the  *  iron  door,'  but  was  conducted  to  a  relatively  safe 
distance. 

11.  When  Peter  was  come  to  himself.  This  is  the  antithesis  of 
the  trance  state  in  which  he  had  seemed  to  himself  to  be  (vs.  9). 

12.  Many  were  gathered.  Not  necessarily  all  who  were  praying 
for  Peter's  release  (vs.  5).  The  word  *  many  '  is  quite  indefinite. 
In  20  :  8  ;  27  :  7  it  may  well  have  been  used  of  a  number  smaller  than 
twenty;  in  18  :  18  and  19  :  19  it  may  have  been  used  of  a  much  larger 
number. 

13.  The  door  of  the  gate.  The  Greek  word  here  translated  *  gate  ' 
has  once  the  meaning  '  porch  '  or  '  court '  (Matt.  26  :  71),  but  never 
that  meaning  in  Luke,  unless  here.  As  the  next  verse  speaks  of  opening 
this  '  gate  '  and  not  the  *  door,'  which  we  should  expect  to  be  opened, 
it  is  possible  that  here,  as  in  Matthew,  it  denotes  the  *  court.'  This 
would  be  opened  by  opening  the  door. 

15.   Thou  art  mad.    They  thought  she  was  out  of  her  mind,  and 
127 


ACTS 

fidently  affirmed  that  it  was  even  so.    And  they  said, 

i6.   °It  is  his  angel.    But  Peter  continued  knocking  :   and 

°when  they  had  opened,  they  saw  him,  and  were  amazed. 

17.  But  he,  beckoning  unto  them  with  the  hand  °to  hold 
their  peace,  declared  unto  them  how  the  Lord  had 
brought  him  forth  out  of  the  prison.  And  he  said, 
Tell  these  things  unto  °James,  and  to  the  brethren. 

18.  And  he  departed,  and  went  °to  another  place.  Now 
as  soon  as  it  was  day,  there  was  no  small  stir  °among 

19.  the  soldiers,  what  was  become  of  Peter.  And  when 
Herod  had  sought  for  him,  and  found  him  not,  he  °ex- 
amined  the  guards,  and  commanded  that  they  should 

yet  what  she  reported  was  doubtless  exactly  what  they  had  been  pray- 
ing for.  On  the  word  comp.  Jn.  10 :  20;  Acts  26  :  24.  It  is  his 
angel.  Comp,  Matt.  18  :  10.  Since  the  voice  was  Peter's,  it  appears 
that  the  guardian  angel,  in  the  common  belief,  might  assume  the 
characteristics  of  the  one  whom  he  guarded. 

16.  When  they  had  opened.  Not  Rhoda  alone  this  time,  but, 
as  was  natural  in  the  circumstances,  several  went  to  the  door. 

17.  To  hold  their  peace.  Possibly  he. feared  that  their  demon- 
strations of  amazement  and  joy  at  his  escape  might  become  known 
on  the  street,  and  so  lead  to  an  attempt  to  seize  him  again.  James. 
This  mention  of  James  by  name  suggests  that  he  was  already  promi- 
nent in  the  Jerusalem  church.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  he 
was  the  same  James  of  whom  Paul  speaks  in  Gal.  i  :  19,  who  was 
the  Lord's  brother.  See  also  i  Cor.  15  :  7.  In  later  times  he  was 
apparently  the  foremost  man  in  the  mother  church.  See  Acts  15  :  13  ; 
21  :  18  ;  Gal.  2:9.  To  another  place.  It  would  be  natural  for  him 
to  keep  his  secret  and  depart  without  telling  any  one  whither  he  was 
going,  for  he  might  anticipate  that  search  would  be  made  for  him. 
It  is  very  probable  that  Luke  did  not  know  whither  Peter  had  fled. 
The  next  appearance  of  the  apostle  in  N.T.  history  is  after  an  interval 
of  some  seven  to  nine  years  (15  :  7).  Where  he  was  during  this 
interval  is  wholly  unknown. 

18.  Among  the  soldiers.  That  is,  the  sixteen  to  whose  care  Peter 
had  been  committed.  Their  consternation  sprang  from  the  fact  that 
they  must  answer  for  Peter's  appearance  with  their  own  lives.  Comp. 
a; :  42. 

19.  Examined.  This  was  a  judicial  investigation.  Comp.  4  :  9. 
From  the  fact  that  the  soldiers  were  put  to  death,  it  may  be  inferred 

128 


ACTS  11:24 

be  put  to  death.    And  he  went  down  from  Judaea  to 
Caesarea,  and  tarried  there. 

The  death  of  Herod,  12:  20-24 

20.  Now  he  was  highly  displeased  with  them  of  °Tyre 
and  Sidon  :  and  they  came  with  one  accord  to  him, 
and,  having  made  Blastus  the  king's  chamberlain  their 
friend,  they  asked  for  peace,  because  their  country  was 

21.  fed  from  the  king's  country.  And  upon  a  set  day 
Herod  arrayed  himself  in  royal  apparel,  and  sat  °on 

22.  the  throne,  and  made  an  oration  °unto  them.  And 
the  people  shouted,  saying,  °The  voice  of  a  god,  and 

23.  not  of  a  man.  And  immediately  °an  angel  of  the  Lord 
smote  him,  because  he  gave  not  God  the  glory  :  and 
he  was  eaten  of  worms,  and  gave  up  the  ghost. 

24.  But  the  word  of  God  grew  and  multiplied. 

that  the  king  thought  them  exceedingly  culpable.  What  the  trial 
developed  that  might  throw  light  on  Peter's  escape,  we  unfortunately 
do  not  know. 

20.  Tyre  and  Sidon.  The  Phoenician  cities,  belonging  to  the  prov- 
ince of  Syria,  were  largely  dependent,  according  to  the  last  clause  of 
this  verse,  upon  Herod's  country,  i.e.,  Palestine,  for  their  food  supply. 
As  their  representatives  came  to  Herod  at  Caesarea,  asking  for  *  peace,* 
i.e.,  for  the  establishment  of  friendly  trade  relations  with  the  king, 
we  may  perhaps  suppose  that  he  had  made  them  feel  his  displeasure 
by  checking  or  stopping  the  exportation  of  food  to  them. 

21.  On  the  throne.  This,  according  to  Josephus  {Ant.  XIX,  8.  2), 
was  in  the  theatre,  — therefore  not  a  '  throne,'  strictly,  but  some  sort 
of  royal  pavilion  or  dais.  Unto  them.  That  is,  the  Tyrian  and 
Sidonian  representatives. 

22.  The  voice  of  a  god.  Their  extreme  Oriental  flattery  may  have 
been  occasioned  as  much  by  the  granting  of  their  request  (implied  in 
vss.  20-21)  as  by  the  quality  of  the  king's  eloquence. 

23.  An  angel  of  the  Lord  smote  him.  This  was  no  doubt  inferred 
from  the  sudden  death  of  Herod.  It  is  not  said  that  an  angel  ap- 
peared, nor  can  we  suppose  this  to  have  been  the  author's  thought. 
The  angel  is  here  simply  a  literary  form,  conveying  the  idea  that  the 
death  of  Herod  was  a  divine  judgment.     Josephus'  account  of  the 

K  129 


12 :  25  ACTS 

25.  And  Barnabas  and  Saul  ^returned  °from  Jerusalem, 
when  they  had  fulfilled  their  ministration,  taking  with 
them  John  whose  surname  was  Mark. 

death  of  Herod  agrees  with  Acts  in  putting  it  in  Caesarea,  also  in 
declaring  that  it  was  sudden  and  was  regarded  as  a  just  judgment 
upon  him  for  allowing  men  to  pay  him  divine  honor.  Josephus 
speaks  of  the  occasion  on  which  Herod  made  the  fatal  address  as  a 
festival  in  honor  of  Caesar. 

25.  Returned.  This  verse  concludes  the  episode  which  was  begun 
in  II  :  30.  The  critical  events  of  chapter  12  occurred,  according  to 
Luke,  while  they  were  on  this  mission.  From  Jerusalem.  If  we  read 
with  the  margin  '  to  Jerusalem,'  the  words  must  be  connected  not  with 
the  verb  but  with  the  participle  '  having  fulfilled.'  But  against  this 
reading  is  the  fact  that  the  mission  of  Barnabas  and  Saul  had  been 
to  the  brethren  in  '  Judaea,'  not  exclusively  to  those  in  Jerusalem, 


130 


Part  III. —The  Church  established  in  Asia  Minor 
AND  Europe,  13  :  1-20  :  3 

Barnabas  and  Saul  set  apart  for  the  work  among  the  Gentiles,   13 : 1 
13  :  1-3 

13.       Now  there  were  at  Antioch,  °in  the  church  that  was 

there,  °prophets  and  teachers,  Barnabas,  and  Symeon 

that  was  called  Niger,  and  °Lucius  of  Cyrene,  and 

°Manaen  the  foster-brother  of  Herod  the  tetrarch,  and 

2.   Saul.    And  as  °they  ministered  to  the  Lord,  and  fasted, 

1.  In  the  church  that  was  there.  The  prophets  and  teachers 
about  to  be  named  were  not,  like  Agabus  (ii  :  28),  mere  sojourners 
in  Antioch,  but  a  part  of  the  church.  Prophets  and  teachers.  It  is 
not  probable  that  Luke  had  in  mind  two  distinctly  marked  classes. 
If  he  had,  it  is  certainly  impossible  to  determine  whom  he  put  in  each 
class.  Barnabas  is  represented  in  Acts  as  both  prophet  and  teacher 
(4  :  36;  II  :  26;  15  :  32),  so  also  is  Saul  (11  :  26  ;  27  :  26).  This 
formal  mention  of  Barnabas  and  Saul  as  prophets  and  teachers  in  the 
church  of  Antioch  appears,  after  11  :  23-26  and  12  :  25,  almost  super- 
fluous. It  is  to  be  noticed,  however,  that  they  are  only  two  out  of  five. 
Lucius  of  Cyrene.  It  is  not  improbable  that  he  was  one  of  the  founders 
of  the  church  in  Antioch.  See  1 1  :  20.  Manaen.  As  a  '  foster- 
brother,'  or  perhaps  simply  early  companion,  of  Herod  the  tetrarch, 
Manaen  was  doubtless  acquainted  with  the  court  of  Herod  the  Great. 
He  may  have  been  sixty  years  old  at  this  time,  hence  much  older  than 
Saul.  The  position  of  the  name  of  Barnabas  first  in  the  list  and  that 
of  Saul  last  may  correspond  to  their  respective  ranks  in  the  company 
of  five,  that  is,  in  the  judgment  of  the  brethren  at  Antioch. 

2.  They.  Either  the  five  or  the  entire  church.  If  the  five,  then 
Barnabas  and  Saul  were  set  apart  by  the  other  three,  for  the  subject 
of  vs.  3  is  the  same  as  that  of  vs.  2.  But  this  does  not  accord  well 
with  the  democratic  ideas  of  the  Book  of  Acts  {e.g.,  6:5;  14  :  23), 
and,  if  the  reference  had  been  to  the  five,  it  would  perhaps  have  been 
more  natural  to  say  '  these  '  than  *  they.'  From  the  N.T.  point  of 
view  every  believer  can  minister  to  the  Lord  {e.g.,  Rom.  15  :  27;  Phil. 
2  :  30).     If  the  word  *  they  '  be  referred  to  the  church,  then  the  min- 

131 


ACTS 

°the  Holy  Ghost  said,  Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul 

3.  °for  the  work  °whereunto  I  have  called  them.  Then, 
°when  they  had  fasted  and  prayed  and  °laid  their  hands 
on  them,  they  sent  them  away. 

The  work  in  Cyprus  ^  13  :  4-12 

4.  So  they,  being  °sent  forth  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  went 
down  to  °Seleucia;    and  from  thence  they  ^sailed  to 

5.  Cyprus.  And  when  they  were  at  °Salamis,  they  pro- 
claimed the  word  of  God  in  the  synagogues  of  the 
Jews  :    and  they  had  also  °John  as  their  attendant. 

6.  And  when  they  had  gone  through  the  whole  island  unto 

istry  and  fasting  point  to  some  solemn  public  service,  and  from  the 
outcome  we  are  justified  in  supposing  that  this  service  was  for  the  pur- 
pose of  considering  the  church's  relation  to  the  Gentile  world.  The 
Holy  Ghost  said.  Probably  through  one  of  the  three  prophets. 
For  the  work.  This  work  is  left  wholly  undefined,  but  surely  the 
church  did  not  set  apart  two  of  its  members  without  knowing  to  what 
they  were  set  apart.  At  the  time  of  writing  it  was  known  to  every 
one.     Whereunto  I  have  called  them,  i.e.,  to  the  Gentile  mission. 

3.  When  they  had  fasted.  It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose  that  this 
occasion  was  dififerent  from  that  of  vs.  2,  The  fasting  and  prayer 
have  now  a  more  personal  and  specific  end  in  view.  Laid  their 
hands.  This  clause  is  naturally  limited  to  certain  representatives  of 
the  church.    On  the  act  see  note  on  6  :  6. 

4.  Sent  forth  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  That  is,  the  Holy  Spirit  speaking 
in  and  through  the  members  of  the  church  at  Antioch,  Seleucia. 
The  port  of  Antioch  at  the  mouth  of  the  Orontes,  about  thirteen  and  a 
half  miles  distant.  Sailed  to  Cyprus.  The  native  place  of  Barnabas, 
the  leader.     See  4  :  36. 

5.  Salamis.  At  the  east  end  of  the  broad  part  of  the  island, 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  southwest  from  Seleucia. 
From  the  fact  that  it  had  several  synagogues  we  may  infer  a  large 
Jewish  population.  From  Luke's  habit  of  chronicling  successes 
and  persecutions,  his  silence  in  regard  to  the  work  in  Salamis  may 
be  taken  to  indicate  that  Barnabas  and  Saul  made  no  very  deep 
impression.  John  as  their  attendant.  John  Mark  had  probably 
been  taken  from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch  with  a  view  to  this  very  work. 
See  12  :  25.  There  is  nowhere  any  suggestion  as  to  the  kind  of  ser- 
vice which  he  rendered,  ^ 

132 


ACTS  13 : 9 

°Paphos,  they  found  a  certain  °sorcerer,  a  false  prophet, 

7.  a  Jew,  whose  name  was  Bar- Jesus;  which  was  with 
the  °proconsul,  Sergius  Paulus,  °a  man  of  understand- 
ing.    The  same  °called  unto  him  Barnabas  and  Saul, 

8.  and  sought  to  hear  the  word  of  God.  But  °Elymas 
the  sorcerer  (for  so  is  his  name  by  interpretation)  with- 
stood them,  seeking  to  turn  aside  the  proconsul  from 

9.  the  faith.    But  °Saul,  who  is  also  called  Paul,  °filled  with 


6.  Paphos.  The  chief  city  of  Cyprus,  about  one  hundred  miles 
west  from  Salamis.  Sorcerer.  Bar-Jesus  was  called  by  the  same 
name  as  those  of  whom  Matthew  speaks  (2:1),  but  in  character  seems 
to  have  resembled  Simon  of  Samaria  (8  :  9).  Barnabas  and  Saul 
appear  to  have  fallen  in  with  this  man  before  they  met  the  proconsul 
(vs.  7). 

7.  Proconsul.  The  highest  officer  of  a  senatorial  province,  which 
Cyprus  was  at  this  time.  A  man  of  understanding.  That  is,  a  reason- 
ing, intelligent  person,  and  indeed  notably  such.  He  kept  this  Jewish 
magician  with  him  in  the  hope  of  learning  something  from  him. 
Called  unto  him  Barnabas  and  Saul.  Probably  then  they  had  been 
some  days  in  Paphos  and  had  made  an  impression  on  the  public. 
The  fact  that  Sergius  called  the  evangelists  shows  that  he  was  not 
satisfied  with  Bar- Jesus. 

8.  Elymas.  This  name  was  regarded  by  Luke  as  the  equivalent 
of  the  word  'mage'  (sorcerer).  It  is  supposed  to  be  the  Graecized 
form  of  the  Arabic  word  meaning  *  wise,'  and  if  so  may  very  well 
have  been  adopted  by  Bar-Jesus. 

9.  Saul  —  Paul.  Hitherto  the  Hebrew  name  *  Saul '  has  been 
exclusively  used,  henceforth  only  the  Roman  name  *  Paul '  is  em- 
ployed (except  in  quoting  Paul's  words  in  chapters  22  and  26).  As  a 
Hellenist,  the  apostle  may  have  had  both  names  from  childhood. 
Whether  from  this  time  he  himself  used  the  name  '  Paul,'  perhaps 
because  he  was  coming  in  contact  with  Romans,  or  whether  the  change 
belongs  only  to  the  author  of  Acts,  cannot  be  certainly  determined. 
Filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  Jesus  promised  his  disciples  the  Spirit, 
but  not  for  the  destruction  of  their  adversaries.  See  Matt.  10  :  20; 
Lk.  21  :  15.  Nothing  similar  to  this  act  is  elsewhere  attributed  to 
Paul.  Peter,  when  dealing  with  a  man  of  the  same  order  as  Bar- Jesus, 
did  not  smite  him  with  supernatural  power.  It  seems  probable,  there- 
fore, that  the  story  of  what  took  place  when  Paul  and  the  sorcerer 
met  before  the  proconsul  underwent  some  modification  in  trans- 
mission. 

133 


ACTS 

10.  the  Holy  Ghost,  fastened  his  eyes  on  him,  and  said, 
O  full  of  all  guile  and  all  villany,  thou  °son  of  the 
devil,  thou  enemy  of  all  righteousness,  wilt  thou  not 

11.  cease  to  pervert  the  right  ways  of  the  Lord?  And 
now,  behold,  the  hand  of  the  Lord  is  upon  thee,  and 
thou  shalt  be  bhnd,  not  seeing  the  sun  for  a  season. 
And  immediately  there  fell  on  him  °a  mist  and  a  dark- 
ness;   and  he  went  about  seeking  some  to  lead  him 

12.  by  the  hand.  Then  the  proconsul,  when  he  saw  what 
was  done,  ^believed,  being  astonished  at  the  teaching 
of  the  Lord. 

The  work  in  Antioch  of  Pisidia^  13  :  13-52 

13.  Now  °Paul  and  his  company  set  sail  from  Paphos, 
and  came  to  °Perga  in  Pamphylia :  and  °  John  departed 

14.  from  them  and  returned  to  Jerusalem.  But  they, 
passing   through   from   Perga,   came   to   °Antioch   of 

10.  Son  of  the  devil.  Perhaps  consciously  used  with  reference  to 
the  name  of  the  sorcerer  Bar- Jesus,  i.e.,  '  Son  of  Jesus.* 

11.  A  mist  and  a  darkness.  The  words  suggest  that  his  blindness 
came  on  gradually. 

12.  Believed.  According  to  Luke's  usage,  this  must  mean  that 
he  accepted  the  Gospel  message  and  believed  in  the  Lord  Jesus.  See, 
e.g.y  2  :  44;  4:4,  32).  But  his  faith,  like  that  of  Simon  the  sorcerer 
(8  :  13),  is  represented  as  based  on  a  miracle. 

13.  Paul  and  his  company.  The  author  henceforth  represents 
Paul  as  the  leader  (see  vss.  43,  46),  probably  because  of  his  prominence 
in  the  scene  at  Paphos.  Perga  in  Pamphylia.  About  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  miles  northwest  from  Paphos.  John  departed. 
Whatever  the  reason  for  this  step  may  have  been,  Paul  strongly  dis- 
approved of  it.     See  15  :  38. 

14.  Antioch  of  Pisidia.  About  ninety  miles  in  a  straight  course 
from  Perga.  The  country,  however,  is  wild  and  mountainous,  and 
the  distance  by  any  travelled  road  much  more  than  that.  Antioch 
became  a  Roman  colony  under  Augustus.  Into  the  synagogue. 
Though  Paul  was  conscious  of  a  call  to  the  Gentiles,  it  was  his  rule 
to  approach  them  through  the  synagogue. 

134 


ACTS 

Pisidia;    and  they  went  °into  the  synagogue  on  the 

15.  sabbath  day,  and  sat  down.  And  after  the  reading  of 
the  law  and  the  prophets  the  rulers  of  the  synagogue 
°sent  unto  them,  saying.  Brethren,  if  ye  have  any  word 

16.  of  exhortation  for  the  people,  say  on.  And  Paul  stood 
up,  and  beckoning  with  the  hand  said. 

Men  of   Israel,  and  °ye  that   fear    God,  hearken. 

17.  The  God  of  this  people  Israel  °chose  our  fathers,  and 
exalted  the  people  when  they  sojourned  in  the  land  of 
Egypt,  and  with  a  high  arm  led  he  them  forth  out  of  it. 

18.  And  for  about  the  time  of  forty  years  ^  suffered  he  their 

19.  manners  in  the  wilderness.  And  when  he  had  °de- 
stroyed  seven  nations  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  he  gave  them 
their  land  for  an  inheritance,  for  °about  four  hundred 

20.  and  fifty  years  :    and  after  these  things  he  gave  them 

*  Or,  'nourished  them.' 


15.  Sent  unto  them.  Apparently  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  some 
distance  from  the  front  of  the  synagogue,  where  on  a  raised  platform 
the  '  rulers '  sat.  It  is  not  likely  that  they  were  invited  to  speak  as 
total  strangers.  The  authorities  were  doubtless  already  somewhat 
acquainted  with  them. 

16.  Ye  that  fear  God.  A  special  recognition  of  the  proselytes  who 
were  present. 

17.  Chose  our  fathers.  The  thought  of  this  verse  and  of  the 
following  is  analogous  to  the  speech  of  Stephen,  but  has  no  similarity 
to  the  addresses  of  Peter. 

18.  The  reading  of  the  R.V.m.,  though  less  strongly  supported  by 
Mss.,  is  favored  by  the  context,  for  in  the  preceding  and  the  following 
verses  Paul  is  concerned  with  the  goodness  of  God,  not  with  the  per- 
verseness  of  Israel. 

19.  Destroyed  seven  nations.  Comp.  7  :  45.  The  language  is 
from  Dt.  7:1.  About  four  hundred  and  fifty  years.  This  chronology 
is  beset  with  difl&culties.  In  the  R.V.  it  appears  to  be  quite  unintel- 
ligible, for  it  cannot  be  naturally  referred  to  the  period  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Egyptian  captivity  down  to  Joshua,  nor  to  that  from 
Joshua  to  Samuel.     Perhaps  the  best  reading  is  that  which  puts  this 

135 


ACTS 

21.  judges  until  Samuel  the  prophet.  And  afterward  they 
asked  for  a  king  :  and  God  gave  unto  them  Saul  the 
son  of  Kish,  a  man  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  for  the 

22.  space  of  forty  years.  And  when  he  had  °removed 
him,  he  raised  up  David  to  be  their  king;  to  whom 
also  °he  bare  witness,  and  said,  I  have  found  David 
the  son  of  Jesse,  a  man  after  my  heart,  who  shall  do 

23.  all  my  will.     Of  this  man's  seed  hath  God  according 

24.  to  promise  brought  unto  Israel  a  ^Saviour,  Jesus ;  when 
John  had  first  preached  before  his  coming  the  baptism 

25.  of  repentance  to  all  the  people  of  Israel.  And  as  John 
°was  fulfilling  his  course,  he  said,  °What  suppose  ye  that 
I  am?  I  am  not  he.  But  behold,  there  cometh  one 
after  me,  the  shoes  of  whose  feet  I  am  not  worthy  to 

26.  unloose.  Brethren,  children  of  the  stock  of  Abraham, 
and  those  among  you  that  fear  God,  °to  us  is  the  word 

clause  in  the  middle  of  the  next  verse,  where  it  plainly  designates  the 
period  from  Joshua  to  Samuel.  Placed  there,  it  fits  Paul's  rapid  his- 
torical sketch.  It  is,  however,  considerably  more  than  the  estimate 
of  I  K.  6 :  I,  for  that  gives  the  entire  period  from  the  Exodus  to 
Solomon's  fourth  year  as  only  four  hundred  and  eighty  years. 

22.  Removed  him.  By  the  mouth  of  Samuel  on  the  occasion  of 
Saul's  disobedience  (i  K.  15  :  23).  He  bare  witness.  The  essential 
part  of  the  witness  is  found  in  i  Sam.  13  :  14,  though  in  words  of 
Samuel  rather  than  Jehovah.  With  this  passage  another,  Ps.  89  :  20, 
is  blended.  Thus  far  we  have  an  historical  introduction,  which  may 
very  likely  have  been  suggested  by  the  Scripture  read  in  the  syna- 
gogue just  before  Paul  spoke. 

23.  Paul  comes  to  speak  of  Jesus  by  way  of  the  fulfilment  of  a 
Davidic  promise.  Comp.  2  :  30;  2  Sam.  7  :  12.  Saviour.  This  title 
is  found  but  once  in  the  undisputed  Epistles  of  Paul  (Phil.  3  :  20). 
It  would  have  been  more  in  Paul's  style  to  have  said  'Christ.' 

24.  An  element  found  in  Peter's  address  in  the  house  of  Cornelius 
(10 :  37),  but  not  in  his  speeches  to  the  Jews. 

25.  Was  fulfilling  his  course.  That  the  following  testimony  of 
John  was  near  the  close  of  his  ministry  accords  with  Luke's  narrative 
(3  :  16,  20).  But  comp.  Jn.  3  :  22-36.  What  suppose  ye  that  I  am? 
Neither  these  words  nor  any  similar  ones  are  attributed  to  the  Baptist 
in  the  Gospels. 

136 


ACTS 

27.  of  this  salvation  sent  forth.  °For  they  that  dwell  in 
Jerusalem,  and  their  rulers,  °because  they  knew  him 
not,  nor  the  voices  of  the  prophets  which  are  read 

28.  every  Sabbath,  ^fulfilled  them  by  condemning  him.  And 
though  they  found  no  cause  of  death  in  him,  yet  asked 

29.  they  of  Pilate  that  he  should  be  slain.  And  when  they 
had  fulfilled  all  things  that  were  written  of  him.  °they 

30.  took  him  down  from  the  tree,  and  laid  him  in  a  tomb.  But 

31.  God  raised  him  from  the  dead  :  and  he  was  seen 
°for  many  days  of  °them  that  came  up  with  him  from 
Galilee  to  Jerusalem,  who  are  now  his  witnesses  unto  the 

32.  people.    And  we  bring  you  good  tidings  of  the  promise 

33.  made  unto  the  fathers,  how  that  God  hath  fulfilled  the 

26.  To  us.  That  is,  to  proselytes  no  less  than  Jews.  So  in  Peter's 
last  address  (10 :  43),  but  probably  not  in  his  first  (2  :  39). 

27.  For.  This  word  introduces  the  ground  of  the  salvation  just 
mentioned,  of  which  ground  vss.  27-31  treat.  Because  they  knew 
him  not.  So  also  Peter  spoke  in  3  :  17.  Fulfilled  them  by  con- 
demning him.     We  have  essentially  the  same  thought  in  3  :  18. 

28.  Peter  in  3  :  13  put  the  sin  of  the  Jews  more  emphatically. 
This  statement  is  also  less  favorable  to  Pilate  than  is  that  of  the  former 
chapter. 

29.  They  took  him  down.  The  verse  does  not  distinguish  between 
those  who  were  hostile  toward  Jesus  and  those  who  were  friendly. 

31.  For  many  days.  Comp.  1:3.  This  time  element  is  not  found 
elsewhere.  Them  that  came  up  with  him  from  Galilee.  It  is  notice- 
able that  Luke,  who  at  the  least  was  editor  of  Paul's  speech,  records 
the  only  appearance  of  the  risen  Lord  to  others  than  Galileans  (24:13). 
The  appearances  of  Jesus  of  which  this  verse  takes  account  were  in  or 
near  Jerusalem.  This  agrees  with  Luke's  Gospel  and  with  i  Cor.  15, 
unless  the  appearance  to  more  than  five  hundred  be  put  (as  it  probably 
should  be)  in  Galilee.  It  is  significant  that  Paul  is  not  represented 
as  appearing  to  his  own  vision  of  Jesus  as  he  does  in  i  Cor.  15  :  8. 

33.  Paul  sees  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  made  to  the  fathers 
in  the  fact  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus.  It  is  probable  that  this  great 
fact  was  allowed  to  eclipse,  for  a  time  at  least,  that  spiritual  fulfilment 
of  the  promise  which  Jesus  saw  in  his  own  work  and  his  own  person. 
Begotten  thee.  This  application  of  Ps.  2:7  to  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus,  here  first  made  in  the  N.T.,  departs  from  the  primary  sense  of 
the  words,  which  refer  to  the  inauguration  of  a  king.    The  resur- 

137 


ACTS 

same  unto  our  children,  in  that  he  raised  up  Jesus;  as 
also  it  is  written  in  the  second  psalm,  Thou  art  my  Son, 

34.  this  day  have  I  °begotten  thee.  And  as  concerning  that 
he  raised  him  up  from  the  dead,  now  °no  more  to  return 
to  corruption,  he  hath  ^spoken  on  this  wise,  I  will  give 

35.  you  the  holy  and  sure  blessings  of  David.  Because  he 
saith  also  in  another  psalm,  Thou  wilt  not  give  thy  Holy 

36.  One  to  see  corruption.  For  David,  after  he  had  in 
his  own  generation  served  the  counsel  of  God,  fell  on 
sleep,  and  was  laid  unto  his  fathers,  and  saw  cor- 

37.  ruption  :    but  he  whom  God  raised  up  saw  no  cor- 

38.  ruption.  Be  it  known  unto  you  ^therefore,  brethren, 
that  through  this  man  is  proclaimed  unto  you  °re- 

rection  was  probably  thought  of  as  Christ's  entrance  on  his  kingly 
oflBce.  This  Psalm  was  for  Paul  a  confirmation  of  the  testimony 
of  those  who  had  actually  seen  the  risen  Lord. 

34.  No  more  to  return  to  corruption.  Since  Paul,  as  appears  from 
vs.  35,  did  not  think  of  Jesus  as  having  seen  corruption  at  all,  we  are 
required  to  take  this  word  as  a  synonym  of  Hades,  as  in  2  :  31,  —  a 
place  of  corruption  rather  than  corruption  itself.  Spoken  on  this 
wise.  The  following  is  an  inexact  quotation  of  Is.  55  :  3.  *  I  will 
give  you  '  stands  in  the  place  of  *  I  will  make  an  everlasting  covenant 
with  you  '  in  the  original.  The  word  '  holy  '  is  added  from  the 
Septuagint.  This  quotation  from  Isaiah  is  to  confirm  the  state- 
ment that  the  risen  Lord  shall  no  more  return  to  corruption.  The 
'  sure  mercies  of  David  '  are  assumed  to  include  the  great  promise  of 
Messianic  salvation,  and  this  Messianic  salvation  implies  a  Messiah 
who  abides  permanently. 

35.  This  citation  from  Ps.  16  :  10  is  adduced  in  support  of  the  words 
of  Isaiah.  The  same  was  used  by  Peter  in  2  :  25  and  assigned  to  David; 
here  the  speaker  is  the  same  as  in  the  preceding  verse,  i.e.,  God. 

36.  This  is  a  proof  that  the  two  passages  cited  cannot  have  re- 
ferred to  David.  The  proof  consists  in  the  admitted  fact  that  David 
died  and  saw  corruption.     Comp.  2  :  29,  which  is  more  vivid. 

37.  This  declaration  that  Jesus  saw  (experienced)  no  corruption 
is  regarded  as  needing  no  proof.  It  is  thought  of  as  following  neces- 
sarily from  the  fact  that  God  had  raised  him  up. 

38.  Therefore.  Because  of  the  resurrection,  which  showed  Jesus 
to  be  the  promised  Messiah  and  Saviour.  Remission  of  sins.  The 
same  as  the  '  salvation '  of  vs.  26  and  the  '  good  tidings '  of  vs.  32. 

138 


ACTS  13 : 4 

39.  mission  of  sins  :  and  by  him  °every  one  that  believeth 
is  ° justified  from  all  things,  from  which  ye  could  °not 

40.  be  justified  by  the  law  of  Moses.  ^Beware  therefore, 
lest  that  come  upon  you,  which  is  spoken  °in 
the  prophets; 

41.  Behold,  ye  despisers,  and  wonder,  and  perish;         Hab.  i 
For  I  work  a  work  in  your  days, 

A  work  which  ye  shall  in  no  wise  believe,  if  one 
declare  it  unto  you. 

42.  And  °as  they  went  out,  °they  besought  that  these 
words  might  be  spoken  to  them  the  next  sabbath. 

43.  Now  when  the  synagogue  broke  up,  many  of  the  Jews 
and  of  the  devout  proselytes  °f  olio  wed  Paul  and  Barna- 


39.  The  entire  thought  of  this  verse,  sometimes  regarded  as  quite 
un-PauIine,  is  rather  to  be  regarded  as  bearing  his  clear  impress. 
Every  one  that  believeth,  Comp.  Rom.  i  :  16.  Universal  justifica- 
tion on  the  sole  condition  of  faith  —  that  is  surely  characteristic  of 
Paul.  Justified.  This  word  is  not  found  in  Peter's  speeches,  nor 
elsewhere  in  Acts,  but  is  fundamental  in  Paul  {e.g.,  Rom.  3  :  24;  i  Cor. 
6:11;  Gal.  2  :  16).  Not  be  justified  by  the  law  of  Moses.  The  inade- 
quacy of  the  Mosaic  law  is  often  asserted  by  Paul  {e.g.,  Rom.  3  :  20; 
4:4;   5  :  20;   7  :  24). 

40.  Beware.  It  seems  to  have  been  rather  characteristic  of  Paul 
to  conclude  his  addresses  in  the  synagogue  with  words  of  warning 
{e.g.,  17:30;  20:  26),  —  a  feature  which  is  lacking  in  Peter's  ad- 
dresses. In  the  prophets.  That  is,  in  the  second  great  division  of  the 
Hebrew  OT.  Comp.  Lk.  24 :  44.  The  quotation  is  from  Hab. 
1  :  5,  essentially  according  to  the  Septuagint,  which  departs  not  a 
little  from  the  original. 

41.  In  the  Hebrew  a  judgment  on  the  Jews  is  anticipated,  which 
is  to  be  executed  by  the  Chaldaeans.  That  is  the  '  work  '  of  Jehovah, 
which  men  would  not  believe  beforehand.  Paul  regards  the  language 
as  applicable  to  the  present  situation.  If  his  hearers  reject  the  ofifer 
of  salvation,  judgment  will  overtake  them. 

42.  As  they  went  out.  That  is,  Paul  and  Barnabas.  It  appears 
from  the  next  verse  that  they  went  out  before  the  meeting  was  dis- 
missed. They  besought.  As  the  verb  is  in  the  imperfect,  it  suggests 
that  one  and  another  spoke  to  the  evangelists. 

43.  Followed.     Perhaps  to  the  lodging  of  Paul  and  Barnabas. 

139 


;:44  ACTS 

bas  :   who,  speaking  to  them,  urged  them  °to  continue 
in  the  grace  of  God. 

44.  And  the  next  sabbath  almost  the  whole  city  was 

45.  gathered  together  to  hear  the  word  of  God.  But 
when  the  Jews  saw  °the  multitudes,  they  were  ^filled 
with  jealousy,  and  contradicted  the  things  which  were 

46.  spoken  by  Paul,  and  blasphemed.  And  Paul  and 
Barnabas  spake  out  boldly,  and  said,  °It  was  necessary 
that  the  word  of  God  should  first  be  spoken  to  you. 
Seeing  ye  thrust  it  from  you,  and  °judge  yourselves  un- 

47.  worthy  of  eternal  life,  lo,  we  turn  to  the  Gentiles.  For 
so  hath  the  Lord  °commanded  us,  saying, 

49 : 6  °I  have  set  thee  for  a  light  of  the  Gentiles, 

That  thou  shouldest  be  for  salvation  unto  the 
uttermost  part  of  the  earth. 

To  continue.  This  implies  that  the  grace  of  God  had  already  se- 
cured entrance  into  their  hearts,  i.e.,  that  they  had  accepted  the 
message  concerning  Jesus. 

45.  The  multitudes.  Largely  Gentiles.  See  vs.  48.  Filled  with 
jealousy.  Because  these  foreign  teachers  had  such  great  success. 
The  opposition  of  the  Jews  was  not  caused  by  jealousy  alone;  behind 
it  there  was  unbelief. 

46.  It  was  necessary.  A  necessity  founded  on  the  word  and 
example  of  Jesus  {e.g.,  Mk.  7  :  27;  Matt.  10  :  5-6;  Acts  i  :  8),  also 
on  the  evident  fitness  of  things.  A  salvation  long  promised  to  the 
Jews  and  expected  by  them  was  rightly  ofiFered  to  them  first.  Judge 
yourselves  unworthy.  Not  in  their  own  minds,  for  they  doubtless 
thought  that  they  were  in  the  only  sure  way  to  eternal  life.  The 
judgment  that  they  were  unworthy  of  the  Gospel  was  one  which  they 
passed  on  themselves  in  rejecting  it. 

47.  Commanded.  That  which  was  spoken  to  the  *  servant  *  of 
Jehovah  (Is.  49  :  6)  —  a  promise  there,  not  a  commandment  —  Paul 
and  Barnabas  apply  to  themselves.  The  sense  of  duty  which  from 
the  very  day  of  his  conversion  (Gal.  1:16)  Paul  felt  to  go  to  the 
Gentiles,  would  naturally  lead  him  to  regard  this  word  of  Isaiah  as 
a  personal  '  commandment.'  I  have  set  thee.  With  the  exception 
of  these  first  four  words  the  quotation  is  exactly  according  to  the 
Septuagint.  In  their  place  the  Greek  version  has  '  I  have  given  thee 
for  a  covenant  of  the  people.* 

140 


ACTS  14 : 1 

48.  And  as  the  Gentiles  heard  this,  they  were  glad,  and 
glorified  the  word  of  God  :   and  as  many  as  were  °or- 

49.  dained  to  eternal  life  believed.  And  the  word  of  the 
Lord  °was  spread  abroad  throughout  all  the  region. 

50.  But  the  Jews  urged  on  the  °devout  women  of  honour- 
able estate,  and  °the  chief  men  of  the  city,  and  stirred 
up  a  persecution  against  Paul  and  Barnabas,  and  cast 

51.  them  out  of  their  borders.  But  they  °shook  off  the  dust 
of  their  feet  against  them,  and  came  unto  °Iconium. 

52.  And  the  disciples  were  filled  with  joy  and  with  the 
Holy  Ghost. 

The  work  in  Iconium,  14 :  i-6a. 

14.  And  it  came  to  pass  in  Iconium,  that  they  entered 
^together  into  the  synagogue  of  the  Jews,  and  so  spake, 

48.  Ordained.  That  which  is  *  ordained  '  or  appointed  is  the  at- 
tainment of  eternal  life.  As  the  rejection  of  the  Gospel  is  represented 
as  wholly  the  act  of  the  Jews  (vs.  46),  so  here  believing  is  the  free  act 
of  the  Gentiles. 

49.  Was  spread  abroad.  This  statement  implies  a  work  of  Paul 
and  Barnabas  for  much  longer  than  the  two  Sabbaths  specified  in 
vss.  14  and  44. 

50.  Devout  women  of  honourable  estate.  Proselytes  of  wealth 
and  social  standing.  The  chief  men.  As  Antioch  was  a  Roman 
colony,  having  a  senate  and  popular  assembly,  the  '  chief  men ' 
may  naturally  be  supposed  to  have  been  Roman  officers.  It  is  an 
indication  of  the  hold  which  Paul  and  Barnabas  had  taken  on  the 
community  that  only  by  the  aid  of  the  chief  men  and  prominent 
women  could  a  successful  opposition  be  raised  against  them. 

51.  Shook  off  the  dust.  An  act  symbolical  not  of  contempt  but 
of  judgment,  —  equivalent  to  saying,  '  Your  blood  be  upon  your  own 
heads'  (18:6).  Comp.  Matt.  10:14.  Iconium.  About  eighty 
miles  southeast  of  Antioch.  It  was  an  important  city,  and  possibly 
a  Roman  colony  at  this  time,  for  it  was  made  such  under  Claudius. 
According  to  14  :  6  it  was  not  in  Lycaonia. 

52.  Though  Paul  and  Barnabas  were  persecuted  and  obliged  to 
flee,  they  left  a  true  church  in  Antioch,  —  disciples  filled  with  joyful 
spiritual  life. 

I.   Together.    The  Greek  words  so  translated  are  found  nowhere 
141 


ACTS 

that  a  great  multitude  both  of  °Jews  and  of  Greeks 

2.  believed.  But  the  Jews  that  were  disobedient  stirred 
up  the  souls  of  the  Gentiles,  and  made  them  evil  affected 

3.  against  °the  brethren.  Long  time  °therefore  they 
tarried  there  speaking  boldly  in  the  Lord,  which  bare 
witness  unto  the  word  of  his  grace,  granting  °signs  and 

4.  wonders  to  be  done  by  their  hands.  But  the  multitude 
of  the  city  was  divided;   and  part  held  with  the  Jews, 

5.  and  part  with  °the  apostles.  And  when  there  was 
made  an  onset  both  of  the  Gentiles  and  of  the  Jews 
°with  their  rulers,  to  entreat  them  shamefully,  and  to 

The  work  in  Lystra  and  Derbe,  14  :  6b-2ia 

6.  stone  them,  they  became  aware  of  it,  and  fled  unto  the 
cities  of  Lycaonia,  °Lystra  and  Derbe,  and  the  region 

7.  round  about:  and  there  they  preached  the  gospel. 

8.  And  at  Lystra  °there  sat  a  certain  man,  impotent  in 

else  in  the  N.T.  The  nearest  approach  to  them  is  in  Lk.  6  :  26 
and  17  :  30.  They  may  mean  that  Paul  and  Barnabas  entered  the 
synagogue  at  Iconium  in  the  same  manner  as  they  had  done  at  An- 
tioch.  Jews  and  of  Greeks.  That  is,  Jews  and  not- Jews.  The  Gen- 
tiles of  Iconium  who  believed  were  not  all  of  the  Greek  race.  Comp. 
Rom.  I  :  16.    Probably  the  great  majority  of  them  were  not  Greeks. 

2.  The  brethren.  That  is,  the  many  disciples  who  had  been  won 
in  Iconium. 

3.  Therefore.  Comp.  i  Cor.  16  :  9.  Signs  and  wonders.  They 
are  left  wholly  undefined.     Barnabas  as  well  as  Paul  wrought  signs. 

4.  The  apostles.  For  the  first  time  in  Acts  this  title  is  given  to 
Paul  and  Barnabas.  It  is  used  only  once  more,  viz.,  in  vs.  14.  Its 
application  to  Barnabas  is  in  keeping  with  Paul's  usage  (see,  e.g., 
Rom.  16  :  7;  2  Cor.  8  :  23). 

5.  With  their  rulers.  This  clause  is  not  to  be  limited  to  the 
Gentiles,  but  includes  also  the  rulers  of  the  Jews. 

6.  Lystra  and  Derbe.  Lystra,  if  it  be  identified  with  Khatyn  Sera 
(Sterrett),  lay  about  eighteen  miles  southwest  of  Iconium,  and  Derbe, 
if  it  be  identified  with  the  ruins  of  Bosola  and  Losta  (Sterrett),  was 
about  sixteen  miles  southeast  from  Lystra.  The  statement  of  this 
verse  and  the  following  appears  to  summarize  a  considerable  period. 

142 


ACTS 

his  feet,  a  cripple  from  his  mother's  womb,  who  never 

9.   had  walked.    The  same  heard  Paul  speaking  :    who, 

fastening  his  eyes  upon  him,  and  °seeing  that  he  had 

10.  faith  to  be  made  whole,  said  °with  a  loud  voice.  Stand 
upright  on  thy  feet.     And  he  leaped  up  and  walked. 

11.  And  when  the  multitudes  saw  °what  Paul  had  done, 
they  lifted  up  their  voice,  saying  °in  the  speech  of 
Lycaonia,  The  °gods  are  come  down  to  us  in  the  Hke- 

12.  ness  of  men.  And  they  called  Barnabas,  ° Jupiter; 
and  Paul,  ^Mercury,  because  he  was  the  chief  speaker. 

13.  And  the  priest  of  Jupiter  whose  temple  was  before  the 
city,  brought  oxen  and  garlands  °unto  the  gates,  and 

Then  follows  a  particular  statement  (8-20)  regarding  the  work  in 
Lystra. 

8.  There  is  no  reference  to  a  synagogue  in  Lystra.  We  may 
therefore  infer  that  its  Jewish  population  was  very  small.  There  sat. 
Perhaps  in  the  market-place.     See  vs.  11. 

9.  Seeing  that  he  had  faith.  This  was  Paul's  inference  from  the 
man's  appearance  and  his  attention  to  the  word  of  the  Gospel. 

10.  With  a  loud  voice.  The  only  instance  in  the  N.T.  where  a 
healing  word  was  thus  spoken. 

11.  What  Paul  had  done.  It  naturally  appeared  to  the  observers 
as  though  Paul  himself  had  healed  the  man.  In  the  speech  of  Lyca- 
onia. It  is  evident  that  Paul  and  Barnabas  did  not  understand  this 
tongue,  for  in  that  case  they  would  have  protested  at  once  against  being 
thought  to  be  gods.  The  Lycaonians  were  apparently  bilingual, 
understanding  Paul's  address  in  Greek,  but  using,  at  least  when 
greatly  excited,  another  tongue  of  their  own.  Gods  ...  in  the  likeness 
of  men.  A  like  inference  was  drawn  by  the  natives  of  Malta  (28  :  6). 
The  belief  was  common  that  the  gods  might  assume  a  human  form 
and  appear  to  men  on  earth. 

12.  Jupiter  .  .  .  Mercury  (Zeus  .  .  •  Hermes).  It  was  most  natural 
to  think  of  these  two  gods,  because  Zeus  had  a  temple  at  Lystra  (vs.  13), 
and  Hermes,  as  his  interpreter,  was  his  attendant.  The  comparison 
may  perhaps  suggest  that  Barnabas,  whom  they  thought  to  be  Zeus, 
was  a  man  of  large  and  majestic  presence.  The  ancient  Phrygian 
myth  of  Philemon  and  Baucis,  though  not  necessary  to  account  for 
the  idea  of  the  Lystrans  that  Zeus  and  Hermes  had  appeared  to 
them,  may  possibly  have  helped  to  turn  their  minds  to  these  two 
gods  in  particular. 

143 


ACTS 

14.  would  have  done  sacrifice  with  the  multitudes.  But 
when  the  apostles,  Barnabas  and  Paul,  heard  of  it, 
°they  rent  their  garments,  and  sprang  forth  among  the 

15.  multitude,  crying  out  and  saying.  Sirs,  why  do  ye  these 
things?  We  also  are  men  of  hke  passions  with  you, 
and  bring  you  good  tidings,  that  ye  should  turn  from 
°these  vain  things  unto  the  living  God,  who  made  the 
heaven  and  the  earth  and  the  sea,  and  all  that  in  them 

16.  is  :    who  in  the  generations  gone  by  suffered  °all  the 

17.  nations  °to  walk  in  their  own  ways.  °And  yet  he  left 
not  himself  without  witness,  in  that  °he  did  good,  and 
gave  you  from  heaven  rains  and  fruitful  seasons,  filling 

18.  your  hearts  with  food  and  gladness.  And  with  these 
sayings  scarce  restrained  they  the  multitudes  from 
doing  sacrifice  unto  them. 

19.  But  there  came  Jews  thither  °from  Antioch  and 
Iconium  :   and  having  °persuaded  the  multitudes,  they 

13.  Unto  the  gates.  As  the  apostles  were  in  the  city  and  the  temple 
of  Zeus  outside,  it  seems  best  to  suppose  that  the  gate  of  the  city  is 
intended  rather  than  that  of  the  temple. 

14.  They  rent  their  garments.  This  was  done  to  express  their 
intense  feeling  of  aversion.    Comp.  Matt.  26  :  65. 

15.  This  verse  and  the  two  following  give  the  general  thought  of 
the  evangelists'  utterance.  These  vain  things.  Rites  of  idolatrous 
worship  such  as  they  were  on  the  point  of  performing. 

16.  All  the  nations.  The  Jews  were  an  exception,  but  that  did 
not  come  into  consideration  in  the  present  circumstances.  To  walk 
in  their  own  ways.  That  is,  God  did  not  check  them  with  an  outward 
law  and  did  not  destroy  them  on  account  of  their  sins.  Comp.  Rom. 
3:25. 

17.  And  yet.  Sufifering  the  nations  to  walk  in  their  own  ways 
is  not  at  all  equivalent  to  withholding  from  them  all  divine  light  and 
motive.  He  did  good.  The  most  obvious  manifestations  of  divine 
goodness,  viz.,  material  blessings,  such  as  seasonable  rains  and  bounti- 
ful harvests,  are  a  witness  of  God,  and  might  have  kept  the  Gentiles 
walking  in  their  own  ways. 

19.  From  Antioch  and  Iconium.  That  the  Jews  followed  Paul's 
track  such  distances  as  from  Antioch  to  Lystra  is  evidence  of  their 

144 


ACTS 

°stoned  Paul,  and  ^dragged  him  out  of  the  city,  sup- 

20.  posing  that  he  was  dead.  But  as  the  ^disciples  stood 
round  about  him,  he  rose  up,  and  entered  into  the 
city  :  and  on  the  morrow  he  went  forth  with  Barnabas 

The  return  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  to  Antioch,  14:  216-28 

21.  to  Derbe.  And  when  they  had  preached  the  gospel 
°to  that  city,  and  had  °made  many  disciples,  °they  re- 
turned to  Lystra,   and  to  Iconium,   and  to  Antioch, 

22.  confirming  the  souls  of  the  disciples,  exhorting  them 
to  continue  in  the  faith,  and  that  through  many  tribula- 

23.  tions  °we  must  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  And 
when  they  had  ^appointed  for  them  ^elders  in  every 

deep  enmity.  Persuaded  the  multitudes.  This  sudden  revulsion  of 
feeling  from  idolatrous  homage  to  mortal  hatred  indicates  that  the 
people  of  Lystra  may  have  been  of  the  same  stock  as  those  to  whom 
Paul  writes  in  Gal.  i  :  6.  Stoned  Paul.  This  form  of  execution  shows 
that  the  crowd  was  dominated  by  the  Jews.  Why  Barnabas  es- 
caped this  mad  onset,  we  can  only  conjecture.  Perhaps  on  account 
of  his  mildness  he  was  not  thought  to  be  dangerous.  Dragged.  Thus 
Paul  was  treated  as  he  had  once  treated  the  disciples  in  Jerusalem 

(8  :  3). 

20.  Disciples  stood  round  about  him.  The  attack  was  aimed  at 
Paul.    There  was  no  attempt  to  crush  out  the  new  doctrine. 

21.  To  that  city.  They  preached  also  in  the  surrounding  country 
according  to  vs.  7.  The  work  in  Derbe  appears  not  to  have  been 
Interrupted.  We  may  suppose  that  the  Jews  from  Antioch  and 
Iconium,  supposing  that  they  had  killed  Paul,  had  returned  home. 
Made  many  disciples.  Among  these  was  Timothy  (see  16  :  i),  per- 
haps also  that  Gaius  who  accompanied  Paul  on  his  last  journey  to 
Jerusalem.  See  20  :  4.  They  returned  to  Lystra,  etc.  The  reason 
of  their  return  to  these  cities,  which  they  knew  must  be  attended 
with  peril,  is  not  indicated.  They  may  have  heard  that  their  con- 
verts were  being  persecuted,  and  so  went  back  to  comfort  and 
strengthen  them. 

22.  We  must  enter.  The  evangelists  classed  themselves  with 
their  converts,  as  well  they  might,  Paul  in  particular,  and  the  record 
has  preserved  this  personal  touch. 

23.  Appointed.    The  Greek  word  here  translated  —  found  else- 

^  145 


ACTS 

church,  and  had  °prayed  with  fasting,  they  commended 

24.  them  to  the  Lord,  on  whom  they  had  beUeved.  And 
they  ^passed  through  Pisidia,  and  came  to  Pamphylia. 

25.  And  when  they  had  spoken  the  word  in  °Perga,  they 

26.  went  down  to  °AttaHa;  and  thence  °they  sailed  to 
Antioch,  from  whence  they  had  been  committed  to 
the  grace  of  God  °for  the  work  which  they  had  fulfilled. 

where  only  in  2  Cor.  8  :  19  —  means  to  vote  by  stretching  the  hand 
out  or  up,  then,  secondarily,  to  appoint  by  vote,  or  perhaps  simply  to 
appoint.  Hence  the  method  pursued  by  the  evangelists  in  securing 
elders  for  these  Asiatic  churches  cannot  be  certainly  made  out  from 
this  word.  The  use  of  the  same  word  in  2  Cor.  8  :  19  is  certainly  not 
unfavorable  to  the  view  that  a  popular  vote  was  taken.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  is  nothing  in  Acts  or  the  Epistles  to  suggest  that  Paul 
and  Barnabas  took  the  matter  entirely  into  their  own  hands.  Prob- 
ably we  may  best  think  of  the  method  of  their  appointment  as  anal- 
ogous to  that  of  the  Seven  (6 :  5-6).  Elders.  This  is  the  first  and 
only  certain  reference  to  the  appointment  of  elders  by  Paul.  Ac- 
cording to  Acts  there  were  elders  at  this  time  in  Jerusalem  and  the 
other  churches  of  Judaea  (11  :  30).  Later  we  see  elders  at  Ephesus, 
and  it  is  possible  that  Paul  took  part  in  their  appointment  (20 :  17), 
also  in  the  appointment  of  *  bishops'  at  Philippi  (Phil,  i :  i).  The 
name  as  that  of  an  ofl5cer  was  doubtless  borrowed  from  the  synagogue, 
though  the  same  term  seems  to  have  been  used  in  other  religions ; 
from  the  same  source  also  was  probably  borrowed  the  general  con- 
ception of  the  office  as  it  first  existed  in  the  Christian  Church.  It 
is  to  be  noted  that  more  than  one  elder  was  appointed  for  each  church. 
Prayed  with  fasting.  These  rites,  taken  from  the  synagogue,  accom- 
panied the  appointment  of  elders  as  they  had  the  setting  apart  of  Paul 
and  Barnabas  to  the  Gentile  mission  (12:3). 

24.  Passed  through  Pisidia.  Verse  21  has  mentioned  Antioch, 
which  was  in  Pisidia  (13  :  14),  but  in  that  region  there  may  have  been 
a  number  of  other  Christian  communities  which  they  visited.  See 
13  :  49.  The  word  *  passed  through  '  does  not  suggest  fresh  mis- 
sionary work,  or  indeed  missionary  work  at  all. 

25.  Perga.  At  their  entrance  into  Asia  the  evangelists  seem  not  to 
have  preached  in  Perga.  See  13  :  3.  It  is  not  indicated  that  their 
preaching  on  their  return  journey  bore  any  fruit.  Attalia.  The  sea- 
port of  Perga. 

26.  They  sailed  to  Antioch.  From  the  later  history  of  Paul  one 
may  perhaps  infer  that  the  return  to  Antioch  at  this  time  was,  in  part 
at  least,  for  the  sake  of  reporting  progress,  and  encouraging  the 

146 


ACTS  15:2 

27.  And  when  they  were  come,  and  had  gathered  the 
church  together,  they  rehearsed  all  things  that  God  had 
done  with  them,  and  how  that  he  had  opened  a  °door 

28.  of  faith  unto  the  Gentiles.  And  they  tarried  °no  little 
time  with  the  disciples. 

The  conference  in  Jerusalem,  15  :  1-33 

15.       And  ^certain  men  came  down  from  Judaea  and  taught 

the  brethren,  saying,  °Except  ye  be  circumcised  after  Gal.  a:i 
2.  the  custom  of  Moses,  ye  cannot  be  saved.  And  when 
Paul  and  Barnabas  had  no  small  dissension  and  ques- 
tioning with  them,  the  brethren  ^appointed  that  Paul 
and  Barnabas,  and  certain  other  of  them,  should  go 
up  to  Jerusalem  °unto  the  apostles  and  elders  about 

church  from  which  they  had  been  commended  to  the  grace  of  God. 
For  the  work  which  they  had  fulfilled.  This  cannot  be  understood 
as  meaning  that  a  programme  had  been  made  for  Paul  and  Barnabas, 
designating  just  the  cities  or  even  the  countries  to  be  visited.  The 
meaning  is  rather  that  the  work  which  they  had  now  accomplished 
was  the  specific  kind  of  work  for  which  they  had  been  given  over  to 
the  grace  of  God. 

27.  Door  of  faith.  That  is,  a  door  through  which  only  those 
enter  who  have  faith. 

28.  No  little  time.  If  the  conference  in  Jerusalem  be  put  in  the 
summer  of  48,  and  if  we  allow  three  years  for  the  missionary  journey, 
dating  its  beginning  from  the  spring  of  45,  then  this  interval,  *  no 
little  time,'  may  have  covered  a  few  months. 

1.  Certain  men.  They  represented  a  considerable  element  in  the 
church  at  Jerusalem,  as  appears  from  vs.  5.  Those  men  who  came 
down  to  Antioch,  like  those  who  are  mentioned  in  vs.  5,  may  well 
have  belonged  to  the  '  sect '  of  the  Pharisees,  as  Paul  had  done  (Phil. 
3:5),  but  unlike  him  they  did  not  see  that  law  and  grace  are  mutually 
exclusive.  Except  ye  be  circumcised.  Circumcision,  according  to 
vs.  5,  stands  for  the  entire  law.  Comp.  Gal.  5:3.  These  men  put 
the  doctrinal  point  explicitly  :    either  circumcision  or  no  salvation. 

2.  Appointed  that  Paul  and  Barnabas,  etc.  The  church  is  to  be 
understood  as  taking  this  action.  In  Gal.  2  :  2  Paul  says  that  he 
went  up  by  '  revelation.'  An  analogous  case  is  furnished  by  9 :  30 
with  22  :  18.     It  is  unnecessary  to  see  any  '  conflict '  between  the  two 

147 


ACTS 

this  question.  They  therefore,  °being  brought  on  their 
way  by  the  church,  passed  °through  both  Phoenicia  and 
Samaria,  °declaring  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles  : 
and  they  caused  great  joy  unto  all  the  brethren.  And 
when  they  were  come  to  Jerusalem,  they  were  ^received 
of  the  church  and  the  apostles  and  the  elders,  and 
they  ^rehearsed  all  things  that  God  had  done  with  them. 
But  there  rose  up  certain  of  the  sect  of  the  Pharisees 
who  believed,  sa)dng,  °It  is  needful  to  circumcise  them, 
and  to  charge  them  to  keep  the  law  of  Moses. 
And  °the  apostles  and  the  elders  were  gathered  to- 


statements.  Paul  was  appointed  by  the  church  in  Antioch,  and  on 
his  own  responsibility  he  took  Titus,  an  uncircumcised  Greek  convert, 
with  him.  See  Gal.  2  :  i.  Unto  the  apostles  and  elders.  There  was 
no  thought  that  the  apostles  had  authority  to  answer  such  a  question, 
but  the  apostles  and  elders  as  representing  the  church  were  to  be  con- 
sulted.   Of  the  elders  James  was  the  most  influential, 

3.  Being  brought  on  their  way  by  the  church.  The  verb  here  em- 
ployed is  used  in  this  sense  in  20  :  38  and  21:5.  For  other  occasions 
when  Paul  was  escorted  by  fellow-believers,  see  9  :  30  and  28 :  15. 
Through  Phoenicia  and  Samaria.  The  delegates  could  not  well  do 
otherwise  than  pass  through  Phcenicia,  unless  they  went  by  water, 
but  as  for  Samaria,  it  would  probably  have  been  easier  for  them  to  keep 
down  the  coast  to  Caesarea  or  Joppa.  Declaring  the  conversion  of 
the  Gentiles.  It  seems  to  be  implied  that  the  believers  in  Phoenicia 
were  all  Jews,  or  practically  all  of  them.  The  Samaritans  were  neither 
Jews  nor  Gentiles. 

4.  Received  of  the  church  and  the  apostles  and  the  elders.  There 
is  evident  stress  on  the  general  character  of  their  reception.  Re- 
hearsed all  things.  Just  as  they  had  done  among  the  brethren  on  the 
way  to  Jerusalem.  They  did  not  immediately  bring  up  the  specific 
question  that  had  occasioned  their  trip. 

5.  It  is  needful  to  circumcise  them.  This  declaration  of  the 
converted  Pharisees  was  called  out,  according  to  Luke,  by  the  report 
of  the  Gentile  mission  of  Paul  and  Barnabas,  There  is  no  indication 
that  Paul  made  any  reply  to  this  stricture  at  this  first  meeting. 

6.  The  apostles  and  the  elders.  Here  begins  the  account  of  a 
private  meeting  of  the  leaders.  They  had  come  together  to  consider 
the  specific  question  raised  in  the  public  meeting.  This  is  to  be  re- 
garded as  the  meeting  to  which  Paul  refers  in  Gal.  2  :  2. 

148 


ACTS  15:12 

7.  gether  to  consider  of  this  matter.  And  when  there 
had  been  °much  questioning,  Peter  rose  up,  and  said 
unto  them. 

Brethren,  ye  know  how  that  °a  good  while  ago  God 
°made  choice  among  you,  that  by  my  mouth  °the 
Gentiles  should  hear    the    word  of    the  gospel,   and 

8.  believe.  And  God,  which  knoweth  the  heart,  bare 
them  witness,  giving  them  the  Holy  Ghost,  even  as  he  did 

9.  unto  us;   and  he  made  no  distinction  between  us  and 

10.  them,  ^cleansing  their  hearts  by  faith.  Now  therefore 
°why  tempt  ye  God,  that  ye  should  put  a  yoke  upon  the 
neck  of  the  disciples,  which  neither  our  fathers  nor 

11.  we  were  able  to  bear?°  But  we  believe  that  we  shall 
be  saved  through  the  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  like 
manner  as  they. 

12.  And  °all   the    multitude  °kept   silence;     and   they 

7.  Much  questioning.  Evidently  there  was  some  difference  of 
opinion  even  in  the  smaller  gathering.  Comp.  Gal.  2:5.  A  good 
while  ago.  It  was  at  least  four  or  five  years,  for  it  was  before  the 
imprisonment  of  Peter  by  Herod  in  44.  See  12:3.  Made  choice 
among  you.  Peter's  words  imply  that  any  one  of  his  fellow-workers 
in  Jerusalem  might  have  been  chosen,  and  that,  in  such  case,  he 
would  have  preached  to  the  Gentiles  even  as  he  had  done.  The 
Gentiles.  That  is,  those  whom  he  had  addressed  in  the  house  of 
Cornelius  in  Caesarea.  It  is  quite  evident  from  this  very  passage  that 
Peter  had  not  followed  up  his  work  among  Gentiles,  and  that  no  other 
one  of  the  Jerusalem  brethren  had  done  so. 

9.  Cleansing  their  hearts  by  faith.  He  had  not  required  them  to  be 
circumcised.  By  faith  alone  had  they  been  admitted  into  the  kingdom 
and  had  received  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

10.  Why  tempt  ye  God?  Since  God  had  received  Gentiles  on  faith, 
it  would  be  directly  opposing  him  to  force  the  yoke  of  the  law  upon 
the  Gentile  converts. 

11.  But  we  believe.  That  is,  we  were  not  able  to  bear  the  yoke 
of  the  law,  to  earn  salvation  through  its  observance,  but  we  believe 
that  we  shall  be  saved  through  the  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  Peter 
says  in  substance  that  he  is  dependent  on  Jesus  only,  not  on  him 
and  the  law. 

149 


15:13  ACTS 

hearkened  unto  Barnabas  and  Paul  rehearsing  what 
signs  and  wonders  God  had  wrought  among  the  Gen- 

13.  tiles  by  them.    And  after  they  had  held  their  peace, 
°James  answered,  saying, 

14.  Brethren,  hearken  unto  me  :  °Symeon  hath  rehearsed 
how  °first  °God  did  visit  the  Gentiles,  to  take  out  of 

15.  them  a  people  for  his  name.     And  to  this  agree  the 
words  of  the  prophets ;   as  it  is  written, 

Amos  9:",   16.  After  these  things  I  will  return. 

And  I  will  build  again  the  tabernacle  of  David, 

which  is  fallen ; 
And  I  will  build  again  the  ruins  thereof. 
And  I  will  set  it  up  : 

17.  That  the  residue  of  men  may  seek  after  the  Lord, 
And  all  the  Gentiles,  upon  whom  my  name  is 

called, 

18.  Saith  the  Lord,  who  maketh  these  things  known 

from  the  beginning  of  the  world. 

12.  All  the  multitude.  This  was  certainly  not  the  gathering  of 
vs.  4,  to  which  Paul  and  Barnabas  had  already  rehearsed  all  that  God 
had  done  with  them,  but  it  was  the  smaller  assembly.  The  word  does 
not  necessarily  imply  a  great  number.  See  28  :  3;  Jn.  21  :  6.  Kept 
silence.  That  is,  the  *  questioning  '  (vs.  7)  was  for  a  time  at  least 
quieted  by  Peter's  statement,  and  an  opportunity  was  secured  for 
Paul  and  Barnabas  to  make  their  statement. 

13.  James.  Mentioned  also  in  12  :  17  and  21  :  18.  His  prom- 
inence in  the  Jerusalem  church,  where  he  seems  to  have  been 
ranked  even  above  Peter  and  John  (Gal.  2:9),  was  doubtless  due  in 
no  small  part  to  the  fact  that  he  was  a  brother  of  the  Lord  (Gal.  i  :  19). 

14.  Symeon.  This  spelling  of  the  name  is  found  only  in  Luke 
with  the  exception  of  2  Pet.  i  :  i  and  Rev.  7  :  7.  First.  This  was 
implied  in  Peter's  statement,  but  not  expressed.  God  did  visit. 
This  is  a  characteristic  Hebrew  conception.  The  human  agency  is 
overlooked,  and  the  divine  put  in  the  foreground. 

15.  James  here  seeks  to  strengthen  the  testimony  of  Peter  by 
showing  that  it  was  in  agreement  with  the  prophets. 

16-18.  The  quotation  of  these  verses  is  from  Amos  9:  11,  12, 
and  departs  in  about  equal  degree  both  from  the  Hebrew  and  the 

ISO 


ACTS 

19.  Wherefore  my  judgement  is,  °that  we  trouble  not  them 

20.  which  from  among  the  Gentiles  turn  to  God;  but  that 
we  write  unto  them,  that  they  abstain  from  the  °pollu- 
tions  of  idols,  and  from  ^fornication,  and  °from  what  is 

21.  strangled,  and  from  blood.     For  Moses  from  genera- 

Septuagint.  Of  the  two  chief  departures  from  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew, 
the  first  —  *  that  the  residue  of  men  may  seek  after  the  Lord,'  where 
the  original  has  *  that  they  may  possess  the  remnant  of  Edom '  — fol- 
lows the  Septuagint;  and  the  second  —  *  known  from  the  beginning  of 
the  world  '  —  is  in  neither  the  Septuagint  nor  the  Hebrew.  But  still 
the  main  point  of  the  original  is  preserved,  viz.,  that  the  blessing  of 
Jehovah  should  come  upon  the  Gentiles. 

19.  That  we  trouble  not.  Thus  James  said  '  No  '  to  the  Pharisaic 
claim  (vs.  5),  and  conceded  all  that  Paul  asked.  The  purport  of  his 
words  '  that  we  trouble  not  them  which  from  among  the  Gentiles  turn 
to  God  '  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  '  right  hand  of  fellowship  '  given  to 
Paul  and  Barnabas  (Gal.  2:9). 

20.  Pollutions  of  idols.  Such  as  eating  sacrificial  meats.  See 
vs.  29  and  i  Cor.  8.  Fornication.  This  is  to  be  taken  literally,  as 
are  the  other  three  specifications ;  but  whether  in  its  ordinary  signi- 
fication, or  in  the  narrower  sense  of  the  intermarriage  of  near  relatives, 
is  questioned.  The  very  low  moral  standard  in  regard  to  the  relation 
of  the  sexes,  especially  in  great  cities  like  Antioch,  makes  the  former 
meaning  intelligible.  If  understood  in  this  way,  the  word  is  in  har- 
mony with  many  an  exhortation  of  Paul  {e.g.,  1  Cor.  6  :  18;  2  Cor. 
12  :  21;  Gal.  5  :  19;  Eph.  5  :  3;  Col.  3:5;  i  Thess.  4  :  3).  From 
what  is  strangled,  and  from  blood.  These  injunctions  are  closely 
related.  The  Jews  were  not  to  eat  what  had  been  strangled  because 
in  so  doing  they  would  eat  blood  ;  and  they  were  not  to  eat  blood  be- 
cause that  was  regarded  as  the  seat  of  life.  See  Ex.  34  :  15;  20  :  14; 
Lev.  17  :  13;  Dt.  12  :  23.  Codex  D  omits,  here  and  in  vs.  29,  the 
injunction  regarding  what  is  strangled,  thus  simplifying  the  direction, 
and  adds  the  ethical  precept,  '  whatsoever  they  would  not  have  done 
to  themselves  not  to  do  to  others.' 

21.  This  verse  gives  the  sole  reason  why  James  makes  his  propo- 
sition. In  every  city,  and  so  in  Antioch,  Moses  is  read  every  Sabbath; 
these  regulations  therefore  are  continually  being  brought  to  the  mind 
of  the  faithful  Jew.  The  proposal  of  James,  resting  on  Lev,  17-18 
and  being  closely  similar  to  the  regulations  which  traditional  law 
imposed  on  proselytes  in  the  land  of  Israel,  was  surely  noth- 
ing altogether  new,  and  may  have  been  only  what  was  every- 
where laid  upon  proselytes  outside  of  the  Holy  Land.  Thus  it 
would  have  been,  in  effect,  a  proposal  that  Gentile  converts,  in  their 


ACTS 

tions  of  old  hath  in  every  city  them  that  preach  him, 
being  read  in  the  synagogues  every  sabbath. 

22.  Then  it  seemed  good  to  the  apostles  and  the  elders, 
°with  the  whole  church,  to  choose  men  out  of  their 
company,  and  send  them  to  Antioch  with  Paul  and 
Barnabas;  namely,  °Judas  called  Barsabbas,  and  Silas, 

23.  chief  men  among  the  brethren  :  and  they  wrote  thus 
by  them.  The  apostles  and  the  elder  brethren  unto  the 

.brethren  which  are  of  the   Gentiles  in  Antioch  and 

24.  °Syria  and  Cilicia,  greeting  :   Forasmuch  as  °we  have 

relation  to  Jewish  Christians,  should  observe  the  regulations  of  prose- 
lytes. As  such,  it  was  certainly  a  proposal  to  which  Paul  could  have 
had  no  objection.  The  proselytes  in  his  churches  had,  as  attendants 
on  the  synagogue,  undoubtedly  observed  these  or  very  similar  regu- 
lations. 

22.  With  the  whole  church.  This  indicates  that  the  proposed 
solution  of  the  trouble  was  brought  before  a  general  gathering  of  the 
church.  This  alone  would  be  in  keeping  with  the  recognized  im- 
portance of  the  question, —  an  importance  that  is  plainly  acknowledged 
in  the  fact  that  a  committee  of  two  men  are  sent  to  Antioch  in  addition 
to  the  letter  of  the  church.  Judas  and  Silas.  Of  Judas  we  have  no 
knowledge  outside  of  the  present  chapter,  but  of  Silas,  called  also 
Silvanus  (2  Cor.  i  :  19),  we  hear  much  through  his  connection  with 
Paul,  whom  he  accompanied  on  his  second  missionary  tour.  That  he 
was  well  fitted  to  act  on  a  delicate  mission  like  the  present,  mediating 
between  the  Jewish  and  Gentile  elements  of  the  church,  is  incidentally 
confirmed  by  the  fact  that  both  Peter,  the  apostle  of  the  circumcision, 
and  Paul,  the  apostle  of  the  uncircumcision,  associated  him  with  them 
in  their  letters  (i  Pet.  5:12;    i  Thess.  1:1). 

23.  The  letter  was  sent  in  the  name  of  the  apostles  and  elders, 
but  it  is  plain  that  they  represented  the  church.  See  vs.  24.  Syria 
and  Cilicia.  The  letter  was  intended  to  go  farther  than  the  com- 
mittee. This  was  sent  only  to  Antioch,  —  an  indication  that  this  was 
the  chief  seat  of  trouble.  Of  churches  in  Syria  and  Cilicia  Acts 
has  thus  far  said  nothing.  The  inclusion  of  these  regions  in  the 
address  of  the  letter  rests  on  information  to  which  the  next  verse  refers. 

24.  We  have  heard.  As  regards  the  state  of  believers  in  Syria 
{i.e.,  outside  of  Antioch)  and  Cilicia  we  do  not  know  how  they 
had  heard.  Paul  and  Barnabas  had  come  up  through  Phoenicia, 
which  was  a  part  of  the  province  of  Syria,  and  they  may  have  seen 
something  of  the  influence  of  the  judaizers  there.     But  there  is  no 

152 


ACTS 

heard  that  certain  which  went  out  from  us  have  trou- 
bled you  with  words,  °subverting  your  souls ;  to  whom 

25.  we  gave  no  commandment;  it  seemed  good  unto  us, 
°having  come  to  one  accord,  to  choose  out  men  and 
send  them  unto  you  with  our  ^beloved  °Barnabas  and 

26.  Paul,  men  that  have  hazarded  their  Uves  for  the  name 

27.  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  We  have  sent  therefore 
Judas  and  Silas,  who  themselves  also  shall  tell  you 

28.  °the  same  things  by  word  of  mouth.  For  it  seemed 
good  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to  us,  to  lay  upon  you 

29.  no  greater  °burden  than  °these  necessary  things;  that 
ye  abstain  from  things  sacrificed  to  idols,  and  from 
blood,  and  from  things  strangled,  and  from  fornication ; 
from  which  if  ye  keep  yourselves,  it  shall  be  well  with 
you.     Fare  ye  well. 

30.  So  they,  when  they  were  dismissed,  came  down  to 


reason  to  doubt  that  there  were  churches  at  this  time  in  Cilicia  (see 
Gal.  I  :  21),  and  the  zeal  of  the  judaizers  knew  no  bounds.  If  they 
had  gone  as  far  as  Antioch,  they  may  also  have  gone  into  Cilicia, 
especially  as  they  could  not  be  ignorant  that  this  was  the  home  of 
Paul.  Subverting  your  souls.  Thus  the  letter  recognizes  that  the 
influence  of  the  legalistic  believers  had  been  bad. 

25.  Having  come  to  one  accord.  If  this  refers  to  the  entire  church, 
it  is  an  indication  that  we  must  not  rate  the  Pharisaic  element  too  high. 
It  is  possible,  however,  that  only  the  apostles  and  elders  had  come  to 
one  accord,  and  that,  though  they  represented  the  church,  there  still 
remained  an  unconvinced  minority.  Beloved.  This  commendation 
of  Paul  and  Barnabas  (see  also  vs.  26)  suggests  that  they  may  have 
been  spoken  against.  Barnabas  and  Paul.  This  is  a  suggestive 
reversal  of  Luke's  own  order  since  the  event  at  Paphos.  In  Jeru- 
salem, where  Barnabas  was  relatively  better  known  as  a  Christian 
than  Paul,  this  changed  order  was  natural. 

27.  The  same  things.    Comp.  vs.  28. 

28.  Burden.  The  apostles  and  elders  recognized  that  it  would 
not  be  altogether  easy  for  the  Gentiles  to  conform  to  the  proposed 
regulations.  These  necessary  things.  From  the  point  of  view  of 
James,  who  originated  the  proposal,  they  were  *  necessary '  to  fellow- 
ship between  Gentile  and  Jewish  believers,  a  modus  vivendi. 


ACTS 

Antioch;   and  having  gathered  the  multitude  together, 

31.  they  delivered  °the  epistle.     And  when  they  had  read 

32.  it,  they  rejoiced  for  the  ^consolation.  And  Judas  and 
Silas,  being  themselves  also  prophets,  °exhorted  the 

33.  brethren  with  many  words,  and  confirmed  them.  And 
after  they  had  spent  some  time  there,  they  were  dis- 
missed in  peace  from  the  brethren  unto  those  that  had 

35.  sent  them  forth. ^    But  Paul  and  Barnabas  tarried  in 

Paul  in  Antioch,  15:35-39 

Antioch,   teaching    and   °preaching  the   word  of  the 
Lord,  with  many  others  also. 

36.  And  after  some  days  Paul  said  unto  Barnabas,  Let 
us  return  now  and  visit  the  brethren  in  every  city 
wherein  we  proclaimed  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  see 

37.  how  they  fare.     And  Barnabas  °was  minded  to  take 

38.  with  them  John  also,  who  was  called  Mark.  But 
Paul  thought  not  good  to  take  with  them  him  who 
withdrew  from  them  from  Pamphylia,  and  went  not 

» Some  ancient  authorities  insert,  with  variations,  vs.  34:  But  it  seemed  good  unto 
Silas  to  abide  there. 

30.  The  epistle.  This  designation  is  correct.  Comp.  that  of 
16  :  14.  In  spirit  as  well  as  in  form  the  deliverance  of  the  Jerusalem 
church  was  a  letter,  with  only  so  much  authority  as  the  receivers  were 
willing  to  allow  to  their  brethren  in  the  mother  church. 

31.  Consolation.  We  might  render  the  Greek  word  by  *  relief  * 
or  *  solace.'  The  letter  would  end  the  unhappy  disquieting  condi- 
tion resulting  from  the  activities  of  the  judaizers. 

32.  Exhorted  .  .  .  and  confirmed.  General  Christian  exhortation 
and  confirmation,  not  bearing  especially  on  the  subject  of  the  letter. 

35.  Preaching  the  word.  That  is,  working  among  the  uncon- 
verted, as  formerly  he  had  labored  in  the  church  (11  :  26). 

36.  Who  took  the  initiative  in  regard  to  the  first  journey  of  Paul 
and  Barnabas  does  not  appear,  but  it  is  Paul  who  proposes  the  second. 

37.  Was  minded.  It  was  characteristic  of  Barnabas,  that  he  was 
willing  to  try  Mark  again. 

154 


ACTS  i6 : 3 

39.  with  them  to  the  work.  And  there  arose  a  sharp  con- 
tention, so  that  °they  parted  asunder  one  from  the  other, 
and  °Barnabas  took  Mark  with  him,  and  ^sailed  away 

Paul  in  Macedonia  and  Achaia,  15  :  40-18  :  22 

40.  unto  Cyprus;  but  Paul  °chose  Silas,  and  went  forth, 
being  commended  by  the  brethren  to  the  grace  of  the   . 

41.  Lord.  And  he  went  through  Syria  and  Cilicia,  con- 
firming the  churches. 

16.  And  he  came  also  °to  Derbe  and  to  Lystra  :  and  °be- 
hold,  a  certain  disciple  °was  there,  named  Timothy,  the 
son  of  a  Jewess  which  believed;   but  his  father  was  a 

2.  Greek.    The  same  was  well  reported  of  by  the  brethren 

3.  that  were  at  Lystra  and  °Iconium.    Him  would  Paul 

39.  They  parted  asunder.  Though  they  did  not  work  together 
again,  they  do  not  appear  to  have  remained  alienated  from  each 
other.  See  Col,  4  :  10;  i  Cor.  9  :  6,  Barnabas  took  Mark.  The  re- 
sult seems  to  have  justified  the  view  of  Barnabas,  for  Mark  became 
a  most  valuable  laborer.  See  Col,  4:  10;  Phile.  24;  2  Tim,  4:  11. 
Sailed  away  unto  Cyprus.  It  may  have  been  by  mutual  consent 
that  Cyprus  was  given  over  to  the  care  of  Barnabas. 

Paul  revisits  his  churches  in  Syria,  Cilicia,  and  central  Asia  Minor , 
15  :  40-16  :  5 

40.  Chose  Silas,  According  to  vs,  ^t,  Silas  and  Judas  had  re- 
turned to  Jerusalem.  In  that  case,  Paul  must  have  tarried  yet  some 
time  in  Antioch,  in  order  to  send  word  to  Silas  and  to  await  his  coming. 

41.  There  is  no  evidence  that  Barnabas  had  ever  worked  in  those 
regions.  The  churches  which  Paul  '  confirmed  '  in  Syria  and  Cilicia 
were  probably  of  his  own  founding  in  the  period  before  he  went  to 
Antioch  with  Barnabas.     See  Gal,  1:21. 

1.  To  Derbe  and  to  Lystra.  Coming  from  Cilicia  he  reached 
Derbe  first,  while  on  his  journey  from  Iconium  he  came  first  to  Lystra. 
See  14 :  6.  Behold.  The  finding  of  Timothy  was  regarded  by  the 
writer  as  striking  or  opportune.  Was  there,  i.e.,  probably  Lystra. 
This  view  is  somewhat  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  Timothy  was  ap- 
proved by  the  brethren  in  Lystra  (vs.  2)  rather  than  by  those  in  Derbe. 

2.  Iconium.  This  circumstance  that  Timothy  was  well  spoken 
of  by  brethren  eighteen  miles  distant  suggests  that  he  may  already 

15s 


ACTS 

have  to  go  forth  with  him;   and  he  took  and  °circum- 
cised  him  because  of  the  Jews  that  were  in  those  parts  : 

4.  for  they  all  knew  that  his  father  was  a  Greek.  And 
as  they  went  on  their  way  through  the  cities,  °they 
delivered  them  °the  decrees  for  to  keep,  which  had 
been  ordained  of  the  apostles  and  elders  that  were  at 

5.  Jerusalem.  °So  °the  churches  were  strengthened  in 
the  faith,  and  increased  in  number  daily. 

6.  And  they  went  °through  the  region  of  Phrygia  and 
Galatia,  having  been  °forbidden  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to 

have  been  an  active  Christian  worker,  and  indicates  that  Paul  did 
not  trust  wholly  to  his  own  impressions,  but  sought  other  evidence  of 
the  young  man's  fitness. 

3.  Circumcised  him.  This  was  done  as  a  matter  of  expediency. 
It  was  on  account  of  the  Jews  in  those  regions,  not  on  account  of  Moses; 
in  the  interest  of  peace,  and  not  of  salvation.  Comp.  2  :  3,  where 
the  rite  was  demanded  as  necessary  to  salvation.  Furthermore,  as  a 
companion  of  Paul  who  would  go  into  the  synagogues  of  the  Jews, 
it  was  obviously  desirable  that  Timothy  be  circumcised. 

4.  They  delivered.  The  letter  of  the  apostles  and  elders  was  ad- 
dressed only  to  Antioch,  and  to  the  churches  of  Syria  and  Cilicia 
(15  :  23).  According  to  this  verse,  however,  it  was  made  known  in  the 
Asiatic  field  of  Paul's  first  missionary  journey.  The  fact  that  Paul 
makes  no  allusion  to  the  regulations  of  the  Jerusalem  conference  in  his 
letters  to  the  Corinthians  is  not  proof  that  he  may  not  have  quoted 
them  in  the  strongly  Jewish  regions  of  Syria  and  Cilicia.  The  decrees. 
This  term  is  considerably  stronger  and  more  ecclesiastical  in  its 
suggestion  than  chapter  15  warrants. 

5.  So.  That  is,  because  of  the  visit  of  Paul,  and  his  conciliatory 
spirit.  The  churches.  This  refers  both  to  those  of  Syria  and  Cilicia 
(15  :  41),  which  we  suppose  to  have  been  founded  by  Paul  before  he 
labored  with  Barnabas  in  Antioch,  and  those  of  central  Asia  Minor. 
It  is  important  to  notice  that  this  verse  has  the  character  of  a  con- 
cluding statement.  It  closes  a  chapter  or  section  of  Paul's  second 
missionary  journey,  viz.,  that  section  in  which  he  was  on  old  ground. 
See  15  :  36;  16  :  6-10. 

Seeking  new  fields,  16  :  6-10 

6.  Throu^  Ihe  region  of  Phrygia  and  Galatia.  Forbidden  to  go 
west,  Paul  turned  to  the  north  or  northeast,  passing  through  some  part 

156 


ACTS 

7.  speak  the  word  in  Asia;    and  when  they  were  come 
°over  against  Mysia,  they  assayed  to  go  into  °Bithynia; 

8.  and  °the  Spirit  of  Jesus  suffered  them  not ;  and  °passing 

9.  by  Mysia,  they  °came  down  to  Troas.    And  °a  vision 


of  Phrygia  and  Galatia.  At  another  time,  he  went  through  Phrygian 
and  Galatian  territory  but  apparently  through  the  Galatian  part 
first.  See  18  :  23.  At  that  later  day  there  were  Christian  disciples 
in  this  region,  presumably  converts  of  Paul,  as  he  went  there  to 
'  stabhsh  '  them,  but  Luke  does  not  intimate  that  Paul  made  any 
considerable  stop  on  this  journey  which  ended  at  Troas;  that  is  to 
say,  he  does  not  show  any  acquaintance  with  the  evangelization  of  the 

*  Phrygian  and  Galatian  '  region,  unless  that  be  identified  with  the 
region  which  he  visited  on  the  first  journey  (13  :  14-14 :  28).  But 
the  fact  that  Luke  makes  no  reference  to  any  evangelistic  work  by 
Paul  in  the  Galatian  regions  north  of  Antioch,  i.e.,  in  Galatia  proper, 
is  not  valid  evidence  that  Paul  did  not  work  there,  for  Luke's  account 
of  Paul's  career  is  confessedly  fragmentary.     On  the  location  of  the 

*  churches  of  Galatia  '  see  commentaries  on  Galatians.  The  Roman 
province  of  Galatia  included,  besides  the  region  of  Galatia  proper, 
in  which  were  the  cities  Ancyra,  Pessinus,  and  Tavium,  part  of 
Pisidia,  Phrygia,  and  Lycaonia.  The  residence  of  the  governor 
was  in  Ancyra.  Forbidden  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  appears  that 
when  Paul  had  gone  through  the  old  field,  he  set  his  face  toward  the 
Roman  province  of  Asia,  and  naturally  toward  its  capital  Ephesus. 
How  or  where  the  Spirit  made  known  that  he  should  not  go  thither 
we  are  not  told. 

7,  Over  against  Mysia.  That  is,  he  had  reached  its  border  on  the 
southeast.  Mysia  was  the  northernmost  part  of  the  Roman  province 
of  Asia.  Bithynia.  This  was  part  of  a  Roman  province  lying  on  the 
Black  Sea;  Pontus  belonged  to  the  same  province.  It  will  be  noticed 
that  Luke  sometimes  employs  names  of  provinces  (Asia,  Macedonia) 
and  sometimes  the  older  geographical  terms  (Mysia,  Bithynia).  The 
Spirit  of  Jesus.  It  is  not  evident  that  the  writer  meant  a  difiFerent 
agency  from  that  which  in  vs.  6  he  calls  the  *  Holy  Spirit.'  Comp. 
Rom.  8  :  9;    Phil,  i  :  19. 

8.  Passing  by  Mysia.  As  Troas  was  on  the  coast  of  Mysia,  they 
must  have  passed  through  it,  or  through  a  part  of  it.  Hence  '  to  pass 
by  '  may  be  understood  here  in  the  sense  of  *  neglect.'  The  evange- 
lists did  not  stop  to  preach.  Mysia  was  part  of  Asia  where  they  had 
already  been  forbidden  to  preach  (vs.  6).  Came  down  to  Troas. 
It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  Paul  was  already  thinking  of  Europe 
as  a  possible  field,  for  though  he  had  been  forbidden  to  preach  in 
Asia,  he  had  passed  across  it  to  the  shore  of  the  iEgean. 

157 


ACTS 

appeared  to  Paul  in  the  night;   There  was  a  °man  of 
Macedonia    standing,    beseeching    him,    and    saying, 

10.  Come  over  into  Macedonia,  and  help  us.  And  when 
he  had  seen  the  vision,  straightway  °we  sought  to  go 
forth  into  Macedonia,  concluding  that  God  had  ^called 
us  for  to  preach  the  gospel  unto  them. 

11.  ^Setting  sail  therefore  from  Troas,  we  made  a  straight 
course  to  °Samothrace,  and  the  day  following  to  °Ne- 

12.  apolis;  and  from  thence  to  °Philippi,  which  is  a  city  of 
Macedonia,  the  first  of  the  district,  a  Roman  colony  : 

13.  and  we  were  in  this  city  tarrying  certain  days.  And  on 
the  sabbath  day  we  went  forth  without  the  gate  by  a 

9.  A  vision.  It  is  not  probable  that  the  vision  gave  him  his  first 
knowledge  of  Macedonia  and  its  need.  It  rather  presupposes  con- 
siderable knowledge  of  Macedonia.  Paul  was  thinking  of  the  subject, 
and  was  still  uncertain.  A  vision  of  the  night  brought  a  decision. 
Man  of  Macedonia.  It  is  perhaps  most  natural  to  suppose  that  Paul 
had  met  a  Macedonian  in  Troas,  with  whom  he  had  talked  of  the  Mace- 
donian field.  If,  then,  he  saw  this  man  in  a  vision,  he  would  of  course 
recognize  him  as  a  Macedonian.  On  the  assumption  that  Luke  was 
the  author  of  the  Diary,  which  begins  with  vs.  10,  it  is  possible  that 
he  himself  was  the  '  man  of  Macedonia.' 

ID.  We  sought.  That  is,  Paul,  Silas,  and  Timothy,  also  Luke,  if 
he  was  the  author  of  the  Diary  that  suddenly  begins  here.  Called  us 
for  to  preach.  As  the  writer  includes  himself  among  those  who  were 
called  to  preach,  we  may  suppose  that  he  was  an  evangelist,  and  that 
in  Troas,  if  not  before,  he  had  become  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
Paul's  work. 

The  work  in  Philippic  16:  11-40 

11.  Setting  sail.  The  Greek  word,  in  this  sense  of  it,  is  peculiar 
to  the  Diary.  Samothrace.  The  lofty  mountain  on  this  island  may 
have  been  the  travellers'  compass  even  from  the  time  when  they  left 
Troas.  Neapolis.  About  one  hundred  and  forty  miles  from  Troas 
and  near  the  Thracian  boundary. 

12.  Philippi.  This  lay  inland  from  Neapolis  about  ten  miles. 
The  fact  that  it  was  a  Roman  colony  (made  such  by  Augustus,  42  B.C.) 
and  was,  according  to  Luke,  the  *  first '  city  of  its  district,  perhaps  first 
in  importance  (Amphipolis  was  the  capital),  may  have  marked  it 
out  as  the  place  where  they  would  begin  their  European  mission. 

158 


ACTS 

river  side,  where  we  supposed   there  was  °a  place  of 
prayer;   and  we  sat  down,  and  spake  unto  the  women 

14.  which  were  come  together.  And  a  certain  woman 
named  °Lydia,  a  seller  of  purple,  of  the  city  of  Thyatira, 
one  that  worshipped  God,  heard  us  :  whose  heart  the 
Lord  opened,  to  give  heed  unto  the  things  which  were 

15.  spoken  by  Paul.  And  when  she  was  baptized,  and 
°her  household,  she  besought  us,  saying.  If  ye  have 
judged  me  to  be  faithful  to  the  Lord,  come  into  my 
house,  and  abide  there.    And  she  ^constrained  us. 

16.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  we  were  going  to  the  place 
of  prayer,  that  a  certain  maid  having  °a  spirit^  of  divi- 
nation met  us,  which  brought  °her  masters  much  gain 

17.  by  soothsaying.  The  same  following  after  Paul  and 
us  cried  out,  saying.  These  men  are  ^servants  of  the 

'RVm  Python. 


13.  A  place  of  prayer.  The  Greek  word  here  used,  though  it  may 
denote  a  '  synagogue,'  probably  does  not  in  this  case  Since  those 
who  came  to  the  place  of  prayer  were  women,  and  since  no  synagogue 
is  mentioned,  we  are  to  conclude  that  the  Jewish  population  in 
Philippi  was  small. 

14.  Lydia.  The  first  convert  in  Europe  was  not  a  Macedonian 
but  an  Asiatic,  a  native  of  the  Lydian  city  of  Thyatira.  She  appears 
to  have  been  a  permanent  resident  in  Philippi,  as  the  narrative  speaks 
of  her  '  house  '  (vs.  15).  She  was  a  proselyte  to  Judaism,  *  one  that 
worshipped  God.'     See  13  :  16,  43. 

15.  Her  household.  The  household  was  identified  with  its  head. 
This  reference  to  the  baptism  of  Lydia' s  '  household  '  indicates  that 
she  was  a  person  of  means  and  suggests  also  that  she  was  unmarried. 
On  *  household '  baptism  comp,  vs.  33  and  i  Cor.  1:16.  Con- 
strained us.  The  Greek  verb  —  found  only  here  and  in  Lk.  24  :  29  — 
suggests  that  Paul  and  his  companions  were  disinclined  to  accept 
Lydia' s  hospitality. 

16.  A  spirit  of  divination.  If  the  word  *  python  '  (R.V.m.)  be 
taken  to  mean  a  ventriloquist,  then  the  maid  was  doubly  endowed, 
having  in  addition  to  this  gift  that  of  '  soothsaying.'  Her  masters. 
She  was  either  a  slave  or  had  sold  her  services. 

159 


ACTS 

Most  High  God,  which  proclaim  unto  you  the  way 
i8.  of  salvation.  And  this  she  did  °for  many  days.  But 
Paul,  being  °sore  troubled,  turned  and  °said  to  the 
spirit,  I  charge  thee  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  to 
come  out  of  her.     And  °it  came  out  that  very  hour. 

19.  But  when  her  masters  saw  °that  the  hope  of  their 
gain  was  gone,  they  laid  hold  on  °Paul  and  Silas,  and 
dragged  them  into  the  marketplace  before  the  rulers, 

20.  and  when  they  had  brought  them  unto  the  magistrates, 
they  said.   These  men,  °being   Jews,  do   exceedingly 

21.  trouble  our  city,  and  °set  forth  customs  which  it  is  not 
lawful  for  us  to  receive,  or  to  observe,  being  Romans. 

22.  And  the  multitude  rose  up  together  against  them  :  and 


17.  Servants  of  the  Most  High  God.  In  giving  utterance  to  this 
conviction  she  was  probably  moved  by  a  friendly  feeling  toward  the 
men,  and  by  a  desire  to  help  forward  their  work.  For  many  days. 
Paul  was  somewhat  at  a  loss  how  to  deal  with  the  case. 

18.  Sore  troubled.  Paul  was  not  sore  troubled  by  the  witness 
which  she  bore  but  by  the  fact  that  one  possessing  a  demon  should 
bear  this  witness.  The  girl  followed  them,  but  did  not  join  them. 
Paul  may  have  delayed  several  days  in  the  hope  that  one  who  bore 
true  witness  concerning  him  and  his  companions  would  break  with 
her  former  mode  of  life.  Said  to  the  spirit.  We  have  here  the  same 
conception  of  the  reality  of  the  foreign  spirit  that  we  find  in  the 
Gospels  in  the  case  of  the  demoniacs.  It  came  out  that  very  hour. 
The  immediate  proof  of  this  fact  may  have  been  that  she  ceased  to 
cry  out  after  the  evangelists. 

19.  That  the  hope  of  their  gain  was  gone.  The  girl  had  apparently 
ceased  not  only  from  crying  after  Paul  but  also  from  all  forms  of  sooth- 
saying. Whether  at  the  same  time  she  became  a  Christian  disciple 
we  can  only  conjecture.     Paul  and  Silas.    Timothy  and  Luke  escaped. 

20.  Being  Jews.  The  trouble  is  attributed  to  their  nationality. 
Hatred  of  the  Jews  was  widespread. 

21.  Set  forth  customs.  The  charge  may  have  been  vague,  as 
Luke  reports  it,  or  it  may  have  been  backed  up  with  what  Paul  had 
probably  said  about  Jesus  as  a  '  king.'  To  the  Philippians  as  Roman 
citizens  the  doctrine  of  the  kingship  of  Jesus  might  easily  be  pre- 
sented as  something  which  it  would  be  *  unlawful '  for  them  to  re- 
ceive.   Christianity  was  not  yet  recognized  by  Roman  law. 

160 


ACTS 

the  magistrates   °rent  their  garments  off  them,   and 

23.  commanded  to  beat  them  with  rods.  And  when  they 
had  laid  °many  stripes  upon  them,  they  cast  them  into 

24.  prison,  charging  the  jailor  to  keep  them  safely  :  who, 
having  received  such  a  charge,  cast  them  into  the  inner 

25.  prison,  and  made  their  feet  fast  in  the  stocks.  But 
about  midnight  Paul  and  Silas  °were  praying  and  sing- 
ing hymns  unto  God,  and  the  prisoners  were  listening 

26.  to  them;  and  suddenly  there  was  a  great  earthquake, 
so  that  the  foundations  of  the  prison-house  were  shaken : 
and  immediately   all   °the   doors   were   opened;    and 

27.  °every  one's  bands  were  loosed.  And  the  jailor  being 
roused  out  of  sleep,  and  seeing  the  prison  doors  open, 
drew  his  sword,  and  was  °about  to  kill  himself,  suppos- 

28.  ing  that  the  prisoners  had  escaped.  But  Paul  cried 
with  a  loud  voice,  saying.  Do  thyself  no  harm  :  for  °we 

29.  are  all  here.     And  he  called  for  lights,  and  °sprang 

22.  Rent  their  garments  off  them.  The  Greek  verb  implies  that 
they  were  stripped  naked,  not  simply  that  their  backs  were  bared  for 
the  rods.     See  i  Thess.  2:2. 

23.  Many  stripes.  The  Jewish  practice  was  to  give  forty  less 
one  (2  Cor.  11  :  24),  but  we  do  not  know  how  many  blows  were  given 
by  these  colonial  Roman  magistrates. 

25.  Were  praying  and  singing  hymns  unto  God.  These  were  not 
two  separate  acts.  What  they  sang  was  at  the  same  time  both  prayer 
and  praise. 

26.  The  doors  were  opened.  Such  a  consequence  of  the  quaking 
is  easily  intelligible  where  the  walls  are  of  brick  or  stone.  Every  one's 
bands  were  loosed.  Staples  fastened  in  the  wall  and  wooden  stocks 
fastened  to  the  ground  might  obviously  be  loosened  by  a  force  which 
cracks  the  ground  and  the  walls. 

27.  About  to  kill  himself.  His  life  would  be  forfeited  if  his  pris- 
oners escaped.     See  12  :  19. 

28.  We  are  all  here.  One  may  well  believe  that  for  a  few  moments 
the  prisoners  were  so  overcome  with  terror  that  they  had  no  thought 
of  escaping. 

29.  Sprang  in.  The  demeanor  of  the  keeper  of  the  prison  is 
only  explicable  on  the  supposition  that  he  knew  something  of  Paul  and 

M  161 


ACTS 

in,  and,  trembling  for  fear,  fell  down  before  Paul  and 

30.  Silas,  and  °brought  them  out,  and  said,  Sirs,  what  must 

31.  I  do  to  be  saved?  And  they  said,  °Believe  on  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved,  thou  and  thy  house. 

32.  And  they  spake  the  word  of  the  Lord  unto  him,  with 

33.  all  that  were  in  his  house.  And  he  took  them  the 
same  hour  of  the  night,  and  washed  their  stripes;   and 

34.  °was  baptized,  he  and  all  his,  immediately.  And  he 
^brought  them  up  into  his  house,  and  set  meat  before 
them,  and  rejoiced  greatly,  with  all  his  house,  °having 
believed  in  God. 

35.  But  when  it  was  day,  the  magistrates  ^sent  the  ser- 

36.  jeants,  saying,  °Let  those  men  go.  And  the  jailor 
reported  the  words  to  Paul,  saying,  The  magistrates 


» Codex  D  inserts  after  '  magistrates '  these  words  :  '  Came  together  in  the  market 
and  remembering  the  earthquake  which  had  happened  they  feared.* 


Silas,  and  something  of  the  message  which  they  had  been  preaching. 
Doubtless,  too,  he  knew  of  the  change  in  the  soothsaying  girl. 

30.  Brought  them  out.  That  is,  at  least  out  of  the  inner  prison 
into  a  more  comfortable  place. 

31.  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus.  This  is  briefer  than  the  statement 
of  Peter  in  2  :  38.  Neither  repentance  nor  baptism  is  mentioned : 
only  the  essential  thing. 

33.  Was  baptized.  In  view  of  the  next  verse  this  act  is  to  be  put  in 
some  room  of  the  prison. 

34.  Brought  them  up  into  his  house.  This  was  done  while  it  was 
still  night  (vs.  35).  Gratitude  for  the  message  made  him  eager  to 
serve  the  messengers.  Having  believed  in  God.  To  believe  in  Jesus, 
as,  by  implication,  he  had  now  done,  was  to  believe  in  God. 

35.  Let  those  men  go.  Luke  suggests  no  reason  for  this  action 
of  the  magistrates.  Perhaps  on  sober  second  thought  they  realized 
that  their  treatment  of  the  prisoners  had  been  without  legal  warrant. 
The  earthquake  may  have  quickened  their  consciences,  as  Codex  D 
suggests,  but  we  can  only  conjecture. 

36.  It  seems  that  Paul  and  Silas  had  returned  to  the  prison. 
Regard  for  the  jailer,  if  nothing  else,  would  have  restrained  them 
from  using  their  liberty  to  escape. 

162 


ACTS  17:1 

have  sent  to  let  you  go  :    now  therefore  come  forth, 

37.  and  go  in  peace.  But  Paul  said  unto  them,  They 
have  beaten  us  pubhcly,  uncondemned,  °men  that  are 
Romans,  and,  have  cast  us  into  prison;  and  do  they 
now  cast  us  out  privily?  nay  verily;    but  let    them 

38.  come  themselves  and  bring  us  out.  And  the  Serjeants 
reported  these  words  unto  the  magistrates  :    and  they 

39.  feared,  °when  they  heard  that  they  were  Romans ;  and 
they  came  and  °besought  them;  and  when  they  had 
brought  them  out,  °they  asked  them  to  go  away  from  the 

40.  *city.  And  they  went  out  of  the  prison,  and  entered 
into  the  house  of  Lydia  :  and  when  they  had  seen  the 
brethren,  they  comforted  them,  and  departed. 

17.  Now  when  they  had  passed  through  °Amphipolis 
and  ApoUonia,  they  came  to  '^Thessalonica,  °where  was 

'  Codex  D  adds  at  the  close  of  vs.  39,  '  Go  forth  out  of  the  city,  lest  they  gather 
again  before  us  crying  out  against  you.' 

37.  Men  that  are  Romans.  It  appears  from  this  that  Silas  as 
well  as  Paul  was  a  Roman  citizen.  The  fact  of  Roman  citizenship 
aggravated  the  case  against  the  magistrates.  To  beat  and  imprison 
without  trial  was  contrary  to  law  ;  to  discharge  the  prisoners  privily, 
without  acknowledgment  of  the  wrong  done  them,  was  cowardly. 
Paul's  position  was  invincible. 

38.  When  they  heard  that  they  were  Romans,  i.e.,  possessed  of 
the  rights  of  Romans. 

39.  Besought  them,  i.e.,  to  let  the  matter  drop.  They  asked 
them  to  go  away  from  the  city.  They  may  well  have  feared  lest  their 
presence  would  cause  further  popular  disturbances. 

The  work  in  Thessalonica,  17  :  1-9 

I.  As  the  narrative  is  continued  in  the  third  person,  it  may  be 
inferred  that  the  writer  of  the  Diary  remained  in  Philippi,  especially 
as  the  next  passage  of  the  Diary  takes  up  the  journey  of  Paul  at  that 
place  (20  :  5).  Amphipolis  and  ApoUonia.  Amphipolis  was  south- 
west from  Philippi  on  the  Strymon  River,  about  thirty-three  miles, 
and  was  the  capital  of  the  district.     ApoUonia  was  about  halfway 

163 


ACTS 

2.  a  synagogue  of  the  Jews  :  and  Paul,  as  his  custom  was, 
went  in  unto  them,  and  for  °three  sabbath  days  °rea- 

3.  soned  with  them  from  the  scriptures,  °opening  and 
alleging,  that  it  °behoved  the  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to 
rise  again  from  the  dead;   and  that  °this  Jesus,  whom, 

4.  said  he,  I  proclaim  unto  you,  is  the  Christ.  And  some 
of  them  were  persuaded,  and  °consorted  with  Paul  and 
Silas ;  and  of  the  °devout  Greeks  a  great  multitude,  and 

between  AmphipoHs  and  Thessalonica.  Thessalonica.  This  city, 
the  modern  Saloniki,  lies  on  the  northeast  side  of  the  Thermaic  Gulf, 
about  two  hundred  miles  north  of  Athens.  Since  44  a.d.  it  had  been 
the  seat  of  government  for  the  entire  province  of  Macedonia.  "Where 
was  a  synagogue  of  the  Jews.  The  mention  of  this  fact  in  connection 
with  Thessalonica  clearly  suggests  why  Paul  stopped  there,  and  so 
also  suggests  why  he  had  not  stopped  at  Alnphipolis  and  Apollonia. 

2.  Three  sabbath  days.  It  is  perhaps  not  necessary  to  infer  that 
Luke  limited  Paul's  stay  in  Thessalonica  to  two  or  three  weeks.  He 
may  have  remained  even  after  he  had  ceased  to  be  welcome  in  the 
synagogue,  as  he  did  a  little  later  in  Corinth  (18  :  4,  7).  Paul's  own 
letters  seem  to  imply  a  longer  stay  in  Thessalonica  than  "  three 
sabbaths."  See  Phil.  4 :  16;  i  Thess.  i  :  9.  Reasoned  with  them. 
The  Greek  here  suggests  that  Paul's  method  was  conversational, 
allowing  questions  and  objections  to  be  raised  by  those  present. 

3.  Opening  and  alleging.  That  is,  opening  passages  of  Scripture 
in  which  he  found  the  necessity  of  the  death  and  resurrection  of  the 
Messiah,  and  explaining  them.  This  was  the  method  which  Paul 
used  in  i  Cor.  15  :  3-4.  Behoved  the  Christ  to  suffer.  This  doctrine 
was  repulsive  to  the  Jews  when  first  declared  by  Jesus  (e.g.,  Mk. 
8  :  31-32),  and  a  *  stumbling  block '  to  them  in  the  days  of  the  apostles 
(e.g.,  I  Cor.  I  :  23).  This  Jesus  is  the  Christ.  This  was  the  funda- 
mental text  of  the  apostolic  age  (e.g.,  2  :  36;  3  :  18;  13  :  23).  The 
doctrine  crystallized  in  the  double  name  *  Jesus  Christ.' 

4.  Consorted  with  Paul  and  Silas,  i.e.,  'cast  in  their  lot  with 
them,'  avowed  themselves  disciples  of  the  same  Lord  whom  the  evan- 
gelists served.  Devout  Greeks.  From  these  proselytes  the  converts 
to  Christianity  were  a  '  great  multitude,'  while  the  preceding  clause, 
which  by  contrast  seems  to  refer  to  the  Jewish  converts,  says  only 
that  '  some  of  them  '  were  persuaded.  Chief  women.  Probably 
proselytes.  Owing  to  their  number  and  their  influence  they  are  espe- 
cially mentioned  as  a  class  or  group  coordinate  with  that  of  the  men. 
The  church  at  Thessalonica  was  thus  from  the  first  predominantly 
Gentile. 

164 


ACTS  17:9 

5.  of  the  °chief  women  not  a  few.  But  °the  Jews,  being 
moved  with  jealousy,  took  unto  them  certain  vile 
fellows  of  the  °rabble,  and  gathering  a  crowd,  set  the 
city  on  an  uproar ;   and  assaulting  the  °house  of  Jason, 

6.  they  sought  to  bring  them  forth  to  the  people.  And 
when  they  found  them  not,  they  dragged  Jason  and 
certain  brethren  before  °the  rulers  of  the  city,  crying, 
These  that  have  turned  °the  world  upside  down  are 

7.  come  hither  also;  whom  Jason  hath  received:  and 
these  all  act  °contrary  to  the  decrees  of  Caesar,  saying 

8.  that  there  is  another  king,  one  Jesus.  And  they 
troubled  the  multitude  and  the  rulers  of  the  city,  when 

9.  they  heard  these  things.  And  when  they  had  taken 
^security  from  Jason  and  the  rest,  they  let  them  go. 

5.  The  Jews.  Here,  as  in  the  cities  of  central  Asia  Minor,  the  Jews 
were  the  leaders  of  the  opposition  to  Paul,  but  they  accomplished 
their  end  through  the  multitude  of  Gentiles  whom  they  stirred  up. 
Paul  in  I  Thessalonians  refers  to  a  persecution  inflicted  by  their  own 
countrymen  (i  Thess.  2  :  14),  but  this  was  another  persecution. 
Rabble.  That  is,  such  persons  as  hung  around  the  market-place. 
House  of  Jason.  This  was  probably  the  place  where  the  evangelists 
lodged.  As  such  it  would  naturally  have  been  the  place  of  meeting 
for  the  disciples.  Of  Jason  we  have  no  certain  knowledge.  Although 
the  name  is  Greek,  the  bearer  may  have  been  a  Jew.  See  Rom. 
16  :  21. 

6.  The  rulers  of  the  city.  The  Greek  word  *  politarchs,*  which 
occurs  nowhere  else  in  the  N.T.  nor  in  classic  Greek  in  just  the  N.T. 
form,  has  been  found  in  a  number  of  inscriptions,  once  on  an  arch  in 
Thessalonica  itself.  Thus  the  accuracy  of  Luke  has  been  confirmed. 
The  world.    That  is,  the  Roman  Empire. 

7.  Contrary  to  the  decrees  of  Caesar.  A  political  accusation  such 
as  was  brought  at  Philippi  (16  :  21).  The  charge  extends  only  to 
the  teaching  of  the  evangelists  as  to  the  lordship  of  the  Messiah  Jesus. 
The  Jews  had  brought  the  same  accusation  against  Jesus  (Jn.  19  :  12, 

15)- 

9.  Security  from  Jason  and  the  rest.  The  disciples  gave  some 
sort  of  pledge  that  nothing  should  be  committed  against  Caesar.  They 
could  do  this  cheerfully,  for  they  knew  that  the  charge  of  treason  was 
groundless. 

165 


i7:io  ACTS 

10.  And  the  brethren  immediately  sent  away  °Paul  and 
Silas  by  night  unto  °Beroea  :    who  when    they  were 

11.  come  thither  °went  into  the  synagogue  of  the  Jews.  Now 
these  were  °more  noble  than  those  in  Thessalonica, 
in  that  they  received  the  word  with  all  readiness  of 
mind,  examining  the  scriptures  daily,  whether  these 

12.  things  were  so.  Many  of  them  °therefore  beHeved ;  also 
of  the  °Greek  women  of  honourable  estate,  and  of  men, 

13.  not  a  few.  But  when  the  Jews  of  Thessalonica  had 
knowledge  that  the  word  of  God  was  proclaimed  of  Paul 
at  Beroea  also,  they  came  thither  likewise,  stirring  up 

14.  and  ^troubling  the  multitudes.    And  then  immediately 

The  work  in  Bercea,  17:  10-14 

10.  Paul  and  Silas.  Thus  Timothy  appears  to  have  been  left 
in  Thessalonica.  Beroea.  A  Macedonian  city  about  forty-seven 
miles  southwest  of  Thessalonica  by  the  shortest  route.  "Went 
into  the  synagogue.  The  Greek  word  here  rendered  *  went,'  which 
is  not  found  elsewhere  in  the  N.T.,  signifies  more  exactly  *to  go  away.* 
It  is  possible  that  an  escort  had  accompanied  Paul  from  Thessalonica 
(comp.  vss.  14-15),  and  that  on  reaching  the  city,  he  left  these  and 
entered  the  synagogue. 

11.  More  noble.  They  were  free  from  the  jealousy  and  intoler- 
ance of  the  Thessalonians  (vs.  5),  and  were  ready  to  welcome  new 
light  which  could  justify  its  claim  to  acceptance  out  of  the  word  of 
God. 

12.  Therefore.  Because  with  open  mind  they  searched  the  Scrip- 
tures to  find  out  whether  the  message  of  Paul  and  Silas  was  true. 
Greek  women.  These  persons  are  not  characterized  as  proselytes, 
neither  are  the  Greek  men  of  the  next  clause,  but  both  are  doubtless 
to  be  understood  as  such  in  analogy  with  other  cases  {e.g.,  13  :  43; 
16  :  14;    17  :  4)- 

13.  Troubling  the  multitudes.  Perhaps  with  the  same  accusations 
which  had  been  so  effective  in  Thessalonica  (vss.  6-7). 

14.  As  far  as  to  the  sea.  If  they  went  down  to  Dium  in  the  extreme 
southeast  of  Macedonia,  they  had  a  journey  of  some  twenty  miles. 
Silas  and  Timothy.  It  appears  from  this  that  Timothy  had  come  on 
from  Thessalonica  to  Beroea.  The  fact  that  Silas  and  Timothy  could 
be  safely  left  in  Beroea  indicates  that  Paul  was  recognized  as  the  one 
really  dangerous  man. 

166 


ACTS  17:18 

the  brethren  sent  forth  Paul  to  go  °as  far  as  to  the  sea  : 

15.  and  °Silas  and  Timothy  abode  there  still.  But  they 
that  conducted  Paul  brought  him  °as  far  as  Athens  : 
and  receiving  a  commandment  unto  Silas  and  Timothy 
°that  they  should  come  to  him  with  all  speed,  they  de- 
parted. 

16.  Now  °while  Paul  waited  for  them  at  Athens,  his 
spirit  was  provoked  within  him,  as  he  beheld  the  city 

17.  °full  of  idols.  So  he  reasoned  in  the  synagogue  with 
the  Jews  and  the  devout  persons,  and  in  °the  market- 

18.  place  every  day  with  them  that  met  with  him.    And 

Paul  in  Athens,  17  :  15-34 

15.  As  far  as  Athens.  That  is,  some  two  hundred  miles  by  ship 
from  Dium.  This  escort  was  a  proof  of  Paul's  power  to  attach  people 
closely  to  himself.  That  they  should  come  to  him  with  all  speed.  We 
infer  from  i  Thess.  3  :  1-3  that  Paul  wished  to  send  Timothy  to  Thes- 
salonica,  to  comfort  the  afflicted  disciples.  He  therefore  waited  in 
Athens.  That  Paul  summoned  Timothy  to  make  the  long  journey 
to  Athens  instead  of  directing  him  to  return  at  once  from  Beroea  to 
Thessalonica  shows  that  he  regarded  it  as  important  for  Timothy 
to  have  personal  instruction  from  him  concerning  the  mission.  As 
for  the  summons  to  Silas,  it  may  have  been  caused  by  a  desire  to  send 
him  to  Philippi  on  an  errand  similar  to  that  which  took  Timothy  to 
Thessalonica  (this  view  rests  on  the  following  passages:  Acts  18  :  5; 
2  Cor.  II  :  8;   Phil.  4  :  15;    i  Thess.  1:1;   3:6). 

16.  While  Paul  waited.  This  language  suggests  that  Paul  had 
no  definite  plan  to  work  at  Athens  when  he  stopped  there.  His  letters 
make  but  a  single  allusion  to  any  stay  in  Athens  (i  Thess.  3:1). 
Full  of  idols.  The  reference  is  to  statues  and  altars  erected  in  the 
streets. 

17.  The  market-place.  On  the  southwest  of  the  Acropolis.  It 
was  surrounded  by  some  of  the  famous  buildings  of  Athens.  On  the 
west  was  the  Royal  Porch,  on  the  south  the  Senate  House,  the  Hall  of 
Zeus,  and  the  Poecil6.  The  Acropolis,  with  its  great  statue  of  Athena, 
overlooked  it  on  the  northeast,  and  the  Hill  of  Mars  on  the  west. 
It  was  the  centre  not  only  of  the  business  life  of  the  city  but  also  of 
the  intellectual. 

18.  Epicurean.  The  name  was  from  the  founder  of  the  school, 
Epicurus,  who  died  270  B.C.  The  main  part  of  his  life  was  spent  in 
Athens.    The  philosophy  of  his  followers,  if  not  his  own,  was  open  to 

167 


ACTS 

certain  also  of  the  ^Epicurean  and  °Stoic  philosophers 
encountered  him.  And  °some  said,  What  would  this 
°babbler  say?  other  some,  He  seemeth  to  be  a  setter 
forth  of  °strange  gods  :  because  he  preached  Jesus  and 

19.  the  resurrection.  And  they  took  hold  of  him,  and 
brought  him  unto  °the  Areopagus,  saying,  May  we 
know  what  this  new  teaching  is,  which  is  spoken  by 

20.  thee?  For  thou  bringest  certain  strange  things  to  our 
ears  :    we  would  know  therefore  what   these  things 

21.  mean.  (Now  all  the  Athenians  and  the  strangers 
sojourning  there  spent  their  time  in  nothing  else,  but 

22.  either  to  tell  or  to  hear  some  new  thing.)  And  Paul 
stood  in  the  midst  of  the  Areopagus,  and  said. 


the  charge  of  promoting  sensuality  and  atheism.  Stoic.  So  called 
from  the  fact  that  their  founder,  Zeno,  taught  in  the  Stoa  or  Hall  on 
the  south  side  of  the  market,  the  Stoa  Pcecil^.  Zeno  died  about  260 
B.C.  Their  chief  doctrine  may  be  said  to  have  concerned  the  Logos 
and  a  rational  harmony  with  nature.  Some  said.  It  is  not  certain 
from  the  Greek  whether  these  were  of  the  preceding  philosophers  or 
were  some  other  frequenters  of  the  market.  Babbler.  This  was  a 
contemptuous  designation,  and  implied  that  what  Paul  said  was 
neither  original  with  him  nor  of  any  marked  intellectual  worth. 
Strange  gods.  Paul  seems  to  have  been  singularly  misunderstood, 
for  the  word  *  resurrection  '  (Greek  dvd<rTr}<ris)  was  thought  to  be 
the  name  of  a  demon  or  goddess,  perhaps  the  spouse  of  Jesus. 

19.  The  Areopagus.  Whether  Paul  was  brought  to  the  Hill  of 
Mars  on  the  west  of  the  market,  or  into  a  council  hall  which  had  its 
name  from  the  Hill  of  Mars  because  the  council  had  originally  met 
there,  or  whether  the  council  was  a  sort  of  University  Senate,  is  a 
disputed  but  unessential  point,  for  it  is  plain  that  his  hearing,  wherever 
it  took  place,  was  not  a  judicial  trial. 

21.  This  general  characterization  of  the  Athenians  explains  the 
act  just  mentioned,  and  helps  to  account  for  the  barrenness  of  Paul's 
ministry  in  Athens. 

22.  Somewhat  superstitious.  We  should  certainly  translate  with 
the  R.V.m.  *  very  religious.'  This  expresses  the  force  of  the  Greek 
comparative.  A  literal  translation  of  the  words  would  be :  '  I  per- 
ceive that  you  are  more  religious,'  that  is  to  say,  more  than  other 
cities. 

168 


ACTS 

Ye  men  of  Athens,  in  all  things  I  perceive  that  ye 

23.  are  °some what  ^superstitious.  For  as  I  passed  along, 
and  observed  the  objects  of  your  worship,  I  found  also 
an  altar  with  this  inscription,  °to  an  unknown 
GOD.    What  therefore  ye  worship  in  ignorance,  °this 

24.  set  I  forth  unto  you.  The  God  that  made  the  world 
and  all  things  therein,  he,  being  Lord  of  heaven  and 
earth,   dwelleth   not  in   ^temples   made  with   hands; 

25.  neither  is  he  served  by  men's  hands,  as  though  he 
needed  anything,  seeing  he  himself  giveth  to  all  life, 

26.  and  breath,  and  all  things;  and  he  °made  of  one 
every  nation  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the 
earth,  °having  determined  their  appointed  seasons,  and 

27.  the  bounds  of  their  habitation;   that  they  should  seek 

»  RVm  very  religious. 


23.  To  an  Unknown  God.  That  it  was  customary  in  Athens  to 
erect  altars  of  this  sort  is  afl5rmed  by  various  classical  authors.  An 
event  which  could  not  be  ascribed  to  any  of  the  known  divinities  as 
Zeus  or  Athena  was  simply  attributed  to  an  Unknown  God.  This 
set  I  forth  unto  you.  Paul  could  identify  the  God  of  his  message  with 
the  God  of  their  worship  because  the  God  of  his  message  was  indeed 
unknown  to  them.  He  thus  spoke  with  a  tact  that  was  likely  to  enlist 
his  hearers'  sympathy.  On  the  general  Pauline  character  of  the 
thought,  comp.  14  :  15-17;   Rom.  2  :  12-16. 

24.  In  this  verse  and  the  following  verses  through  vs.  28  Paul  gives, 
not  the  name  of  the  Unknown  God,  but  his  character  and  his  purpose 
for  the  children  of  men.  Temples  made  with  hands.  If  they  were  on 
Mars  Hill,  there  were  several  temples  in  full  sight.    Comp.  7  :  48, 

26.  Made  of  one.  Comp.  Rom,  5  :  12;  i  Cor,  15  :  22.  This 
statement  may  perhaps  have  had  reference  to  Athenian  pride.  As 
made  from  one  stock,  all  people  have  the  same  fundamental  spiritual 
capacities  and  needs.  This  prepares  for  the  thought  of  vs.  27.  Having 
determined  their  appointed  seasons.  That  is,  having  fixed  in  the 
course  of  history  the  seasons  previously  determined  upon  in  his  own 
mind.  The  periods  of  national  growth  and  development,  as  also  the 
bounds  of  nations,  are,  in  Paul's  thought,  the  manifestation  of  a  divine 
purpose. 

169 


ACTS 

God,  if  haply  they  might  °feel  after  him,  and  find 

28.  him,  though  he  is  not  far  from  each  one  of  us  :  for  in 
him  °we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being;  as  cer- 
tain even  of  °your  own  poets  have  said.  For  we  are  also 

29.  his  offspring.  Being  then  the  offspring  of  God, 
°we  ought  not  to  think  that  the  Godhead  is  Hke  unto 
gold,  or  silver,   or  stone,  graven  by  art  and  device 

30.  of  man.  The  °times  of  ignorance  °therefore  God  over- 
looked;   but  now   he   °commandeth^  men   that   they 

31.  should  all  everywhere  repent :    inasmuch  as  he  hath 

'  Or,  declareth. 


27.  Feel  after  him.  The  Greek  word  suggests  the  motions  of  one 
groping  in  the  dark;  and  this  figure,  as  well  as  the  words  '  if  haply,' 
indicate  that,  in  Paul's  thought,  nations  may  fail  to  find  God.  Comp. 
Rom.  I  :  18-32. 

28.  We  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being.  A  comprehensive 
statement  of  the  completeness  of  our  dependence  upon  the  present 
God.  The  Greek  which  is  rendered  by '  have  our  being '  means  simply 
*  are.'  If  it  has  climactic  force,  as  seems  probable  since  '  move  ' 
marks  an  advance  upon  *  live,'  then  its  significance  may  be  this,  '  in 
him  we  are  what  and  all  that  we  are.'  Your  own  poets.  Namely, 
Aratus,  aCilician  like  Paul,  who  flourished  in  the  first  half  of  the  third 
century  B.C.,  and  Cleanthes,  a  distinguished  pupil  of  Zeno,  who  died 
in  220  B.C. 

29.  We  ought  not  to  think.  Paul  draws  from  their  own  poets  an 
inference  hostile  to  idolatry. 

30.  Times  of  ignorance.  That  is,  all  the  long  past  of  Gentile 
history  prior  to  the  advent  of  Christ.  Comp.  3:17;  14 :  16;  Rom. 
3  :  25.  Therefore.  Since  God  is  our  father  and  we  his  offspring. 
Commandeth.  This  and  the  marginal  translation  '  declareth  '  are 
renderings  of  different  compounds  of  the  same  Greek  verb.  The 
method  of  Jesus  {e.g.,  Mk.  i  :  15),  as  also  that  of  his  apostles  {e.g., 
2  :  38;   3  :  19),  was  quite  in  accord  with  the  stronger  word. 

31.  The  assertion  of  a  future  judgment  was  not  new  to  his  hearers, 
but  that  this  was  to  be  by  a  man  whom  God  had  raised  from  the  dead 
was  new.  If  Paul  did  not  mention  the  name  of  Jesus  in  this  address, 
he  could  doubtless  assume  that  his  reference  to  one  who  had  been 
raised  from  the  dead  would  be  understood  by  his  hearers,  for  he  had 
before  spoken  to  them  of  Jesus  and  the  resurrection  (vs.  18).      He 

170 


ACTS 

appointed  a  day,  in  the  which  °he  will  judge  the  world 
in  righteousness  by  the  man  whom  he  hath  ordained; 
whereof  °he  hath  given  assurance  unto  all  men,  in  that 
he  hath  raised  him  from  the  dead. 

32.  Now  when  they  heard  of  °the  resurrection  of  the  dead, 
some  mocked ;  but  others  said,  °We  will  hear  thee  con- 

33.  cerning  this  yet  again.     °Thus  Paul  went  out  from 

34.  among  them.  But  ^certain  men  clave  unto  him,  and 
believed  :  among  whom  also  was  Dionysius  the  Are- 
opagite,  and  a  woman  named  Damaris,  and  others  with 
them. 


will  judge.  Comp.  10  :  42.  It  will  be  noticed  that  God  is  the  judge, 
and  that  he  executes  judgment  through  a  man.  He  hath  given 
assurance.  This  assurance,  which  consists  in  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus,  is  given  to  all  men  in  so  far  as  the  Gospel  is  preached. 

32.  Whether  Paul  concluded  his  address  with  the  statement  that 
God  had  raised  a  man  from  the  dead,  or  was  interrupted  at  this  point, 
is  not  clear.  The  author  does  not  directly  indicate  that  there  was  any 
interruption,  as  he  does  in  22  :  22.  Therefore  the  view  that  Paul  had 
not  finished  his  address  must  seek  its  support  in  the  character  of  the 
address  itself.  In  all  other  formal  addresses  of  Paul  to  unconverted 
men,  which  are  reported  in  Acts,  he  speaks  of  Jesus;  here  he  does 
not  name  him,  though  he  is  indirectly  characterized,  and  he  refers 
to  nothing  in  his  earthly  history  but  his  resurrection.  And  yet  one 
can  hardly  say  that  Paul  might  not  have  concluded  an  address  to  the 
Athenians  in  the  way  in  which  this  is  concluded.  The  resurrection 
of  the  dead.  Though  vs.  31  speaks  only  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus, 
what  Paul  said  was  evidently  understood  to  imply  the  resurrection 
of  men  in  general.  We  cannot  tell  whether  Paul  was  understood  to 
teach  a  physical  resurrection;  but  the  mocking  is  most  easily  under- 
stood if  the  hearers  thought  that  to  be  the  case.  Comp.  i  Cor.  15  :  12. 
We  will  hear  thee.  Their  interest  was  not  vital.  So  far  as  we  know, 
they  never  had  another  opportunity  to  hear  the  Gospel  from  Paul. 

33.  Thus  Paul  went  out.  That  is,  while  part  of  his  auditors  were 
mocking,  and  others,  with  more  respect,  were  speaking  of  a  future 
meeting.  It  may  be  noticed  that  Paul  appears  to  have  gone  out  when 
he  pleased.  He  had  not  been  judicially  summoned,  and  no  charges 
were  brought. 

34.  Certain  men  clave  unto  him.  Whether  these  formed  the 
nucleus  of  a  church  in  Athens,  we  do  not  know.    The  two  individuals 

171 


ACTS 

18.       After  these  things  he  departed  from  Athens,  and 

2.  came  to  °Corinth.  And  he  found  a  certain  Jew  named 
°Aquila,  a  man  of  Pontus  by  race,  lately  come  from 
Italy,  with  his  wife  °Priscilla,  because  °Claudius  had 
commanded  all  the  Jews  to  depart  from  Rome  :   and 

3.  he  came  unto  them;  and  because  he  was  of  the  same 
trade,  he  abode  with  them,  and  °they  wrought;  for  by 

4.  their  trade  they  were  °tentmakers.  And  he  reasoned 
in  the  synagogue  every  sabbath,  and  persuaded  Jews 
and  °Greeks. 

mentioned  by  name  are  not  mentioned  elsewhere  in  the  N.T,    Diony- 
sius  is  described  as  the  *  Areopagite,'  a  member  of  the  Athenian  court. 

The  work  in  Corinth,  18  :  i-i8a. 

1.  Corinth.  As  the  capital  of  the  province  of  Achaia,  which  after 
44  A.D.  was  separated  from  the  province  of  Macedonia,  Corinth  may 
well  have  been  Paul's  objective  point  on  leaving  Macedonia.  It 
was  a  meeting-place  of  East  and  West,  a  great  commercial  centre, 
a  busy  seaport,  and  so  for  Paul's  mission  a  strategic  location.  Cor- 
inth was  a  Roman  colony,  founded  by  Caesar  46  B.C.,  and  is  about 
fifty  miles  west  of  Athens. 

2.  Aquila.  This  is  a  Latin  name,  which  the  Pontian  Jew  may 
have  taken  on  going  to  reside  in  Rome.  Priscilla.  This  is  a  diminu- 
tive from  Prisca,  which  form  Paul  always  uses  (Rom.  16  :  3;  i  Cor. 
16  :  19;  2  Tim.  4  :  19).  Luke  always  employs  the  name  *  Priscilla.* 
This  name  is  Latin,  but  we  have  no  sufficient  reason  for  thinking  that 
Priscilla  was  a  Roman.  The  fact  that  she  is  usually  named  before 
Aquila  (four  times  out  of  six)  may  as  well  be  due  to  a  greater  prom- 
inence in  Christian  work  as  to  a  superior  social  rank  supposed  to  be- 
long to  her  as  a  Roman  of  the  Priscan  Gens.  Claudius  had  com- 
manded. According  to  the  Roman  historian  Orosius  this  decree  was 
promulgated  49-50  a.d.  Suetonius  says  that  the  ground  of  the  edict 
was  that  the  Jews  were  constantly  causing  disturbances  under  the 
leadership  of  'Chrestus  '  (impulsore  Chresto). 

3.  They  wrought.  Here  in  Corinth  as  at  Thessalonica  (i  Thess. 
2  :  9)  and  later  at  Ephesus  (Acts  20 :  34)  Paul  labored  with  his  own 
hands  for  his  support.  Tentmakers.  As  tents  were  frequently 
manufactured  from  cloth  of  goats'  hair,  which  was  one  of  the  chief 
products  of  Paul's  native  Cilicia,  it  was  natural  that  he  as  a  boy  learned 
the  trade  of  tentmaker. 

172 


ACTS 

5.  But  when  °Silas  and  Timothy  came  down  from 
Macedonia,  Paul  was  °constrained  by  the  word,  testify- 

6.  ing  to  the  Jews  that  Jesus  was  the  Christ.  And  when 
they  ^opposed  themselves,  and  °blasphemed,  he  °shook 
out  his  raiment,  and  said  unto  them,  °Your  blood  he 
upon  your  own  heads ;    I  am  clean  :   from  henceforth 

7.  I  will  go  unto  the  Gentiles.  And  he  departed  thence, 
and  went  into  the  house  of  a  certain  man  named  Titus 
Justus,  one  that  worshipped  God,  whose  house  joined 

8.  hard  to  the  synagogue.  And  °Crispus,  the  ruler  of  the 
synagogue,  believed  in  the  Lord  with  all  his  house; 
and  °many  of  the  Corinthians  hearing  believed,  and 

9.  °were  baptized.    And  °the  Lord  said  unto  Paul  in  the 


4.  Greeks.     Proselytes,  since  they  were  in  the  synagogue. 

5.  Silas  and  Timothy.  See  note  on  17  :  15.  Constrained  by  the 
word,  i.e.,  he  grew  more  constant  or  more  vigorous  in  his  preaching. 
On  his  arrival  in  Corinth  Paul  was  in  weakness  and  fear  and  much 
trembling  (i  Cor.  2:3),  and  was  extremely  solicitous  in  regard  to  the 
church  in  Thessalonica  (i  Thess.  3  :  i-io).  By  the  arrival  of  his 
fellow-workers  and  by  the  good  report  which  Timothy  brought,  he 
was  strengthened  and  encouraged,  and  his  preaching  immediately 
became  more  effective. 

6.  Opposed  themselves.  Latent  hostility  was  brought  out  by  Paul's 
increased  energy.  Blasphemed.  Their  contemptuous  and  dishonoring 
remarks  may  have  been  directed  against  Jesus  or  Paul  or  both.  Shook 
out  his  raiment.  This  symbolical  act  is  interpreted  by  the  following 
words.  Your  blood  be  upon  your  own  heads.  Paul  absolves  him- 
self from  his  responsibility.    Comp.  Matt.  27  :  24-25. 

8.  Crispus.  Paul  mentions  Crispus,  but  does  not  say  that  he  was 
the  ruler  of  the  synagogue  (i  Cor.  i  :  14).  Many  of  the  Corinthians 
believed.  The  Greek  has  the  added  suggestion  that  it  was  from  time 
to  time,  through  a  considerable  period,  that  the  Corinthians  came  to 
believe.  So  this  verse  may  summarize  the  results  of  several  weeks  or 
months.  Were  baptized.  This  was  not  done  by  Paul  himself  ex- 
cept in  the  case  of  Crispus,  Gains,  and  the  household  of  Stephanas 
(i  Cor.  I  :  15-16). 

9.  The  Lord  said  unto  Paul  by  a  vision.  The  occasion  of  this 
vision  is  suggested  by  two  facts,  which,  however,  may  not  be  entirely 
distinct.    There  was,  in  the  first  place,  the  general  and  deep  depravity 

173 


ACTS 

night  by  a  vision,  °Be  not  afraid,  but  speak,  and  hold 

10.  not  thy  peace  :  for  I  am  with  thee,  and  no  man  shall 
set  on  thee  to  harm  thee  :   for  °I  have  much  people  in 

11.  this  city.  And  °he  dwelt  there  a  year  and  six  months, 
teaching  the  word  of  God  among  them. 

12.  But  when  °GaUio  was  proconsul  of  Achaia,  the  Jews 
with  one  accord  rose  up  against  Paul,  and  brought  him 

13.  before  the  judgement-seat,  saying.  This  man  persuadeth 

14.  men  to  worship  God  ^contrary  to  the  law.  But  when 
Paul  was  about  to  open  his  mouth,  Gallio  said  unto 
the  Jews,  °If  indeed  it  were  a  matter  of  wrong  or  of 
wicked  villany,  O  ye  Jews,  reason  would  that  I  should 

15.  bear  with  you  :  but  °if  they  are  questions  °about  words 

of  the  Corinthian  populace  (possibly  reflected  in  Rom.  i :  18-32), 
and  second,  the  consciousness  of  Paul  that  what  he  said  was  '  foolish- 
ness '  to  most  of  his  hearers  (i  Cor.  i  :  23).  Be  not  afraid.  See 
I  Cor.  2:3;  4  :  9-10.  From  the  following  verse  it  appears  that  what 
Paul  was  fearing  was  personal  violence,  such  as  he  had  suffered  at 
Philippi  and  at  Lystra. 

10.  I  have  much  people  in  this  city.  Those  who  were  yet  to  be 
reached  by  Paul's  message. 

11.  He  dwelt  there  a  year  and  six  months.  This  statement  does 
not  cover  the  entire  sojourn  in  Corinth,  but  only  the  period  prior  to 
the  assault  of  the  Jews  (12-17).  ^^  vs.  18  it  is  said  that  he  remained 
*  many  days  '  after  this  incident. 

12.  Gsdlio.  Gallio  was  an  elder  brother  of  the  celebrated  Roman 
philosopher  Seneca.  *  Gallio  '  was  an  adopted  name  (from  Junius 
Gallio,  his  foster-father);  'Marcus  Annaeus  Novatus,'  his  real  one. 
He  was  distinguished  for  his  aflfable  and  gentle  manner.  His  brother 
wrote  of  him,  "  No  mortal  is  so  dear  to  any  one  as  this  man  is  to  all." 
The  date  of  his  proconsulship  is  not  exactly  known,  but  is  commonly 
placed  in  the  last  years  of  Claudius,  between  49  and  54. 

13.  Contrary  to  the  law.  This  was  the  emphatic  clause  in  the 
accusation.  The  accusers  did  not  say  '  contrary  to  our  law,'  that  is, 
the  Jewish,  but  '  contrary  to  the  law,'  which  can  only  mean  the  law 
of  the  land,  that  is,  the  Roman.    Comp.  16  :  21;    17  :  7. 

14.  If  indeed  it  were  a  matter  of  wrong.  If  it  had  been  charged 
that  Paul  taught  men  to  be  disloyal  to  Caesar,  Gallio  could  not  have 
spoken  as  he  did. 

15.  If  they  are  questions,  etc.     It  is  certainly  implied  that  Gallio 

174 


ACTS 

and  °names  and  °your  own  law,  look  to  it  yourselves; 

1 6.  I  am  not  minded  to  be  a  judge  of  these  matters.    And 

17.  he  °drave  them  from  the  judgement-seat.  And  °they 
all  laid  hold  on  Sosthenes,  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue, 
and  beat  him  before  the  judgement-seat.  And  Gallio 
cared  for  none  of  these  things. 

18.  And  Paul,  having  tarried  after  this  °yet  many  days, 
took  his  leave  of  the  brethren,  and  °sailed  thence  for 
Syria,  and  °with  him  Priscilla  and  Aquila;    ^having 

was  in  no  doubt  on  this  point  though  he  spoke  in  this  conditional 
form,  for  without  further  hearing  of  their  case  he  drove  them  from 
the  judgment  seat.  About  words.  That  is,  a  matter  of  religious 
teaching  in  contrast  to  wrong  acts.  Names.  This  was  possibly  a 
reference  to  'Christ,'  whether  Jesus  could  rightly  be  styled  a  king 
or  not.     Your  own  law.     Not  Roman  law. 

16.  Drave  them  from  the  judgement-seat.  An  unmistakable  and 
final  dismissal  of  the  case. 

17.  They  all  laid  hold  on  Sosthenes.  Explained  in  connection 
with  the  preceding  verse,  the  pronoun  *  they  '  must  apparently  refer 
to  the  Jews.  Gentiles  have  not  been  mentioned.  As  Sosthenes  was 
the  ruler  of  the  synagogue,  he  may  well  have  been  the  Jews'  rep- 
resentative in  presenting  the  case  to  Gallio,  and  so  it  was  natural  that 
they  should  vent  their  disappointment  on  him.  This  explanation 
throws  light  on  the  last  clause  of  the  verse.  It  is  not  strange  that 
Gallio  was  indifferent  to  a  squabble  between  Jews. 

From  Corinth  to  Antioch,  18  :  1 86-22 

18.  Yet  many  days.  That  is,  after  the  eighteen  months  of  vs.  11. 
Sailed  thence  for  Syria.  The  objective  point  was  Antioch  (vs.  22), 
With  him  Priscilla  and  Aquila.  The  reason  why  these  persons 
went  with  Paul  as  far  as  Ephesus  (vs.  19)  can  be  reasonably  con- 
jectured with  the  aid  of  vs.  26  and  i  Cor.  16  :  19.  Paul  wished  the 
cooperation  of  these  most  devoted  friends.  See  Rom.  16  : 4.  Having 
shorn  his  head  in  Cenchreae.  Cenchreae,  the  eastern  port  of  Corinth, 
was  about  eight  miles  distant.  Here,  in  token  of  the  fulfilment 
of  some  vow,  Paul  had  his  hair  cut  short.  It  is  indeed  possible, 
grammatically,  to  connect  this  vow  with  Aquila,  but  that  should 
not  be  done.  For  if  the  vow  was  Aquila's,  it  would  have  no 
discoverable  meaning  for  Theophilus,  to  whom  the  book  was  dedi- 
cated.    But  as  an  act  of  Paul,  it  is  of  importance  in  a  book  that 

17s 


ACTS 

19.  shorn  his  head  in  Cenchreae  :  for  he  had  a  vow.  And 
they  came  to  °Ephesus,  and  he  left  them  there :  °but  he 
himself  entered  into  the  synagogue,  and  reasoned  with 

20.  the  Jews.    And  when  they  asked  him  to  abide  a  longer 

21.  time,  °he  consented  not;  but  taking  his  leave  of  them, 
and  saying,  I  will  return  again  unto  you,  if  God  will, 

22.  he  set  sail  from  Ephesus.  And  when  he  had  landed 
at  Caesarea,  °he  went  up  and  saluted  the  church,  and 

Paul  revisits  the  churches  of  central  Asia  Minor  on  his  way 
to  Ephesus,  18  :  23 

23.  went  down  to  Antioch.  And  °having  spent  some 
time  there,  °he  departed,  and  went  through  °the  region 

deals  so  largely  with  his  character  and  work.  It  suggests  (i)  that 
while  he  rejected  the  Law  and  all  its  rites  as  something  necessary  to 
one's  salvation,  he  yet  did  not  deny  all  value  to  these  rites.  Comp. 
16  :  3  ;  and  (2)  it  suggests  (or  rather  confirms  the  suggestion  which 
we  have  elsewhere,  see  i  Cor.  2:3;  Acts  18  :  9-10)  that  Paul's  ex- 
perience in  Corinth  may  have  been  of  a  peculiarly  trying  sort. 
If  Paul's  vow  was  that  of  a  Nazirite,  his  fulfilment  of  the  vow  was  not 
according  to  the  letter  of  the  Law,  which  required  that  it  should  be  at 
the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting  and  performed  by  a  priest  (Num. 
6:  10-20), 

19.  Ephesus.  See  on  19 :  i.  But  he  himself  entered  into  the 
synagogue.  Paul  and  his  companions  on  reaching  Ephesus  sepa- 
rated, they,  we  may  suppose,  to  find  work  and  lodging,  and  he  to 
go  into  the  synagogue,  not  for  permanent  preaching,  but  for  a  single 
address,  as  the  Greek  indicates. 

20.  He  consented  not.  This  decision  was  due  to  interests  entirely 
outside  of  Ephesus.  His  impression  of  the  field  here  was  wholly 
favorable,  as  we  learn  from  the  next  verse.  It  is  likely  that  Paul  made 
a  temporary  stop  at  Ephesus  at  this  time  for  the  sake  of  becoming 
somewhat  acquainted  with  it  as  a  missionary  centre. 

22.  The  difficulties  of  this  verse  are  not  fully  solved.  When  Paul 
left  Corinth,  he  sailed  for  '  Syria,'  that  is,  most  naturally,  Antioch. 
Now  he  sails  past  Antioch  to  Caesarea,  far  down  on  the  eastern  coast 
of  the  Mediterranean,  about  a  two  days'  journey  from  Jerusalem. 
Again,  it  is  said, '  he  went  up  and  saluted  the  church.'  The  expression 
*  going  up  '  suits  a  reference  to  Jerusalem,  as  does  the  implied  impor- 

176 


ACTS  18:25 

of  Galatia  and  Phrygia  in  order,  Establishing  all  the 
disciples. 

Forerunners  of  Paul  at  Ephesus,  18  :  24-28 

24.  Now  a  certain  Jew  named  °Apollos,  °an  Alexandrian 
by  race,  °a  learned  man,  came  to  Ephesus;    and  he 

25.  was  mighty  in  the  scriptures.     This  man  °had  been 
instructed  in  the  way  of  the  Lord;   and  being  fervent 

tance  of  the  church.  But  why  is  Jerusalem  not  named,  and  what 
purpose  can  Paul  have  had  in  a  hasty  visit  of  this  sort  ?  Possibly  the 
difficulty  connected  with  the  close  of  his  journey  corresponds  to  that 
at  its  beginning,  and  the  vagueness  of  the  allusion  to  Jerusalem  is 
one  with  the  vagueness  regarding  the  *  vow.'  The  fulfilment  of  that 
may  have  taken  him  to  the  temple. 

23.  Having  spent  some  time  there.  As  he  did  also  at  the  close  of 
the  first  missionary  tour  (14 :  28).  He  departed.  No  companion  is 
alluded  to.  When  Paul  was  in  Ephesus,  Timothy  was  one  of  those  who 
ministered  to  him  (19  :  22),  but  we  do  not  know  whether  he  made  the 
long  journey  with  him.  Paul's  custom  was  certainly  to  have  one  or 
more  fellow- workers  with  him,  but  Luke's  habit  was  to  mention  these 
fellow-workers,  and  here  he  does  not.  The  region  of  Galatia  and 
Phrygia.  See  note  on  16  :  6.  Stablishing  all  the  disciples.  Of  dis- 
ciples in  Phrygia  we  have  no  further  information  in  the  N.T. 

24.  Apollos.  The  references  of  Paul  to  Apollos  confirm  what  is 
said  in  this  section  (vss.  24-28)  regarding  his  ability.  See  i  Cor. 
I  :  12;  3  :  4-6,  22;  4:6;  16  :  12.  An  Alexandrian  by  race.  Since  he 
came  to  Ephesus  as  a  Christian  teacher,  it  may  be  inferred  that  the 
Gospel  had  been  taught  in  Alexandria  before  Paul  came  to  Ephesus. 
A  learned  man.  His  learning  is  described  in  the  last  clause  of  the 
verse  as  biblical  in  character.  The  view  that  Apollos  was  *  eloquent ' 
(so  R.V.m.)  as  well  as  learned  would  accord  with  such  facts  as  his 
spiritual  fervency  (vs.  25),  his  boldness  (vs.  26),  and  the  deep  impres- 
sion he  made  at  Corinth  where  persuasive  speech  appears  to  have 
been  at  a  premium  (i  Cor.  2:4). 

25.  Had  been  instructed.  The  Greek  verb  suggests  that  this 
instruction  may  have  been  oral,  and  hence  that  no  written  Gospel 
had  yet  circulated  in  Alexandria.  Taught  carefully  the  things  con- 
cerning Jesus.  The  translation  of  S.V.  is  to  be  preferred  to  this.  It 
has  *  taught  accurately,'  and  below  in  vs.  26  '  more  accurately.' 
The  *  accuracy  *  of  his  teaching  is  correlative  to  the  statement  that  he 

N  177 


ACTS 

in  spirit,  he  spake  and  °taught  ^  carefully  the  things  con- 

26.  cerning  Jesus,  °knowing  only  the  baptism  of  John :  and 
he  began  to  speak  boldly  in  the  synagogue.  But  when 
Priscilla  and  Aquila  heard  him,  they  took  him  unto 
them,  and  expounded  unto  him  the  way  of  God  °more 

27.  *  carefully.  ^  And  when  he  was  minded  to  pass  over  into 
°Achaia,  °the  brethren  encouraged  him,  and  wrote  to 
the  disciples  to  receive  him  :  and  when  he  was  come, 
he  helped  them  much  which  had  beheved  through  grace  : 

28.  °for  he  powerfully  confuted  the  Jews,  and  that  pub- 
licly, shewing  by  the  scriptures  that  Jesus  was  the 
Christ. 


•  SV  accurately. 

*  Codex  D  has  the  following  text  in  vs.  27:  'but  certain  Corinthians  were  sojourn- 
ing in  Ephesus,  and  having  heard  him  they  besought  him  to  go  over  with  them  to 
their  country.  When  he  assented,  the  Ephesians  wrote  to  the  disciples  in  Corinth 
that  they  should  receive  the  man,  who  sojourning  in  Achaia  discussed  much  in  the 
churches.' 


had  been  *  instructed,'  and  the  fact  that  he  undertook  to  teach  in 
Ephesus  illustrates  his  fervency  of  spirit.  Knowing  only  the  baptism 
of  John.  The  baptism  of  John  stands  in  contrast  with  the  baptism 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  would  seem  that  ApoUos  had  not  heard  of 
Pentecost  and  subsequent  events  with  their  implications  regarding 
the  presence  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 

26.  More  carefully.  Whether  Priscilla  and  Aquila  were  indebted 
to  Paul  for  this  fuller  knowledge,  or  whether  they  received  it  in  Rome, 
we  cannot  tell. 

27.  Achaia.  Whether  Apollos  labored  outside  of  Corinth  (19  :  i), 
we  do  not  know,  nor  does  the  narrative  suggest  why  he  left  Ephesus. 
The  brethren.  This  seems  to  imply  that  there  were  already  other 
Christians  in  Ephesus  besides  Priscilla  and  Aquila.  Had  they  them- 
selves won  some  to  the  faith  ? 

28.  For.  It  is  notable  that  the  special  help  given  to  believers  in 
Corinth  was  the  confuting  of  unbelievers.  The  passage  suggests  that 
the  unbelieving  Jews  may  have  won  a  triumph  over  those  who  believed, 
setting  forth  Scripture  arguments  against  the  Messiahship  of  the 
crucified  Jesus  with  greater  force  than  seemed  to  belong  to  the  argu- 
ments of  believers  in  support  of  that  Messiahship. 

178 


ACTS  19 : 4 

The  work  in  Ephesus,  19  :  1-41 

19.       And  it  came  to  pass,  that,  °while  Apollos  was  at 
Corinth,  Paul  having  passed  through  °the  upper  country 

2.  came  to  °Ephesus,  and  °found  certain  disciples  :  and  he 
said  unto  them,  °Did  ye  receive  the  Holy  Ghost  when 
ye  believed?  And  they  said  unto  him.  Nay,  we  did 
not  so  much  as  hear  ^whether  the  Holy  Ghost  was 

3.  given.    And  he  said,  °Into  what  then  were  ye  baptized? 

4.  And  they  said.  Into  John's  baptism.  And  Paul  said, 
John  baptized  with  the  baptism  of  repentance,  sa3dng 

1.  While  Apollos  was  at  Corinth.  He  must  have  remained  there 
a  considerable  time,  to  judge  from  First  Corinthians,  and  later  he 
returned  to  Ephesus  (i  Cor.  16  :  12).  Luke  may  have  mentioned  this 
fact  because  of  the  importance  of  the  subsequent  cooperation  of 
Apollos  with  Paul.  The  upper  country.  The  region  of  Galatia  and 
Phrygia  (18  :  23).  If  Luke  included  more  than  this,  it  is  impossible 
to  tell  what;  also  impossible  to  tell  by  what  particular  route  he  came 
to  Ephesus.  Ephesus.  This  was  the  capital  of  the  Roman  province 
of  Asia,  and  had  been  since  133  B.C.  It  was  situated  on  the  Cayster 
River  in  the  ancient  division  of  Lydia.  It  was  not  only  one  of  the  great- 
est and  most  magnificent  cities  of  history,  but  was  also  the  centre  of 
the  worship  of  Diana,  whose  temple  was  about  three  centuries  old  when 
Paul  labored  there.  It  was  one  of  the  strongholds  of  sorcery  in  all 
its  forms.  It  had  a  large  Jewish  population.  Found  certain  dis- 
ciples. These  were  Christians  of  the  same  type  to  which  Apollos 
belonged.  Apparently  Aquila  and  Priscilla  had  not  fallen  in  with 
them,  nor  is  it  likely  that  they  were  either  disciples  or  friends  of  Apol- 
los, for  had  this  been  the  case  he  would  hardly  have  left  Ephesus  with- 
out taking  to  them  his  fuller  conception  of  Christian  truth. 

2.  Did  ye  receive  the  Holy  Ghost  vrhen  ye  believed  ?  The  Greek 
should  probably  be  rendered,  '  Did  ye  receive  a  holy  spirit  when  ye 
believed?'  See  Appendix,  note  i.  Whether  the  Holy  Ghost  was 
given.  As  disciples  of  the  Baptist,  it  seems  altogether  likely  that 
these  persons  were  familiar  with  the  term  *  Spirit  of  God.'  Their 
reply  does  not  affirm  ignorance  on  this  point;  it  only  affirms  ignorance 
in  regard  to  '  holy  spirit,'  i.e.,  the  effect  of  the  working  of  God's  Spirit 
as  an  element  of  the  Messianic  dispensation. 

3.  Into  what  then?  He  takes  for  granted  that  they,  as  Christian 
disciples,  had  been  baptized  into  some  name.  The  universality  of 
the  rite  in  the  earliest  church  is  thus  assumed. 

179 


ACTS 

unto  the  people,  °that  they  should  believe  on  him  which 

5.  should  come  after  him,  that  is,  on  Jesus.  And  when 
they  heard  this,   °they  were  baptized  into  the  name 

6.  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  And  when  Paul  had  laid  his 
hands  upon  them,  the  Holy  Ghost  came  on  them; 

7.  and  they  spake  with  tongues,  and  prophesied.  And 
they  were  in  all  about  twelve  men. 

8.  And  he  entered  into  the  synagogue,  and  spake 
boldly  for  the  space  of  °three  months,  reasoning  and 
persuading  as  to  the  things  concerning  the  kingdom  of 

9.  God.  But  when  some  were  hardened  and  °disobedient, 
°speaking  evil  of  the  Way  before  the  multitude,  he  de- 
parted from  them,  and  °separated  the  disciples,  °reason- 

10.  ing  daily  in  the  ^school  of  Tyrannus.    And  this  con- 
tinued for  the  space  of  °two  years;   so  that  °all  they 

4.  That  they  should  believe.  This  was  the  implied  significance 
of  John's  work,  but  is  nowhere  given  explicitly  in  the  Gospels.  Comp. 
Jn.  I  :  7. 

5.  They  were  baptized.  This  is  the  only  case  recorded  where  dis- 
ciples of  the  Baptist  were  rebaptized,  unless  perhaps  in  the  parallel 
case  of  ApoUos  (18  :  26). 

6.  Here,  as  in  Samaria,  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  was  preceded  by 
baptism  and  the  imposition  of  hands,  while  in  the  house  of  Cornelius 
baptism  followed  the  gift  of  the  Spirit. 

8.  Three  months.  This  was  the  longest  period  of  labor  in  any 
synagogue  as  far  as  our  records  inform  us. 

9.  Disobedient.  That  is,  they  refused  to  believe  in  Paul's  message. 
Speaking  evil  of  the  Way.  See  notes  on  18  :  6  and  9  :  2.  Separated 
the  disciples.  To  separate  the  disciples  from  the  unbelieving  Jews 
amounted,  of  course,  to  a  separation  from  the  synagogue.  Reasoning 
daily.  He  had  done  the  same  in  Athens  (17  :  17).  School  of  Tyran- 
nus. It  was  usual  for  philosophers,  as  we  may  assume  Tyrannus  to 
have  been,  to  have  a  lecture  hall. 

10.  Two  years.  This,  together  with  the  three  months  of  vs.  8, 
makes  his  Ephesian  sojourn  one  of  two  and  a  quarter  years,  but  Paul 
speaks  of  it  in  20  :  31,  perhaps  in  round  numbers,  as  one  of  three 
years.  All  they  which  dwelt  in  Asia,  i.e.,  the  Roman  province  of  Asia. 
This  result  justified  Paul's  method  of  laboring  in  the  great  cities. 
People  were  continually  coming  to  the  capital,  and  of  these  some 

180 


ACTS  19:15 

which  dwelt  in  Asia  heard  the  word  of  the  Lord,  both 

11.  Jews  and  Greeks.     And  God  ^wrought  °special  miracles 

12.  by  the  hands  of  Paul :  insomuch  that  unto  the  sick 
were  carried  away  from  his  body  handkerchiefs  or 
°aprons,  and  the  diseases  departed  from  them,  and  the 

13.  evil  spirits  went  out.  But  certain  also  of  the  strolling 
Jews,  exorcists,  took  upon  them  °to  name  over  them 
which  had  the  evil  spirits  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
saying,  I  adjure  you  °by  Jesus  whom  Paul  preacheth. 

14.  And  there  were  ^  seven  sons  of  one  °Sceva,  a  Jew,  a 

15.  chief  priest,  which  did  this.    And  the  evil  spirit  an- 

'  Codex  D  omits  '  seven '  and  has  simply  the  plural '  sons.' 

from  various  quarters  heard  Paul,  accepted  his  message,  and  on  their 
return  home  bore  the  seed  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  It  was  very 
Hkely  in  this  way  that  the  church  at  Colossae  was  founded  by  Epaphras 
(Col.  I  :  7). 

II.  Wrought.  That  is,  as  the  Greek  verb  indicates,  from  time 
to  time  during  the  Ephesian  period.  Special  miracles.  These  are 
defined  in  what  follows. 

12.  Aprons.  Such  as  workmen  used.  The  conception  which 
people  seemed  to  have  of  Paul,  as  reflected  in  this  record,  was 
analogous  to  that  which  some  persons  in  Judaea  entertained  regarding 
Peter  (5  :  15).  Whether  Paul  approved  of  such  methods  of  healing 
may  be  doubted.  They  are  altogether  unlike  those  *  signs '  of  an 
apostle  which  he  says  were  wrought  by  him  (2  Cor.  12  :  12 ;  Rom. 
15  :  18-19).  E^t  if  Paul  did  make  this  concession  to  the  superstition 
of  the  Ephesians,  it  is  certain  that  he  must  have  been  assured  that  the 
particular  persons  who  sought  healing  had  faith  in  God's  ability  to 
heal  even  in  this  manner. 

13.  To  name  over  them.  The  healing  power  was  thought  to  reside 
in  the  right  use  of  potent  names  and  formulae.  By  Jesus  whom  Paul 
preacheth.  That  Jewish  exorcists  should  have  used  these  names  is 
quite  intelligible.  Shrewd  exorcists,  who  were  abreast  of  the  times, 
may  well  have  made  trial  of  them. 

14.  Sceva,  a  chief  priest.  As  this  entire  passage  about  'special 
miracles '  has  a  somewhat  legendary  character,  we  may  conjecture 
that  Sceva  was  some  Ephesian  scribe  or  dignitary,  out  of  whom  tra- 
dition made  a  '  chief  priest.' 

15.  Unto  them.     Interpreted  in  accord  with  the  preceding  verse, 

181 


ACTS 

swered  and  said  °unto  them,  °Jesus  I  know,  and  Paul 

i6.   I  know;    but  who  are  ye?    And  the  man  in  whom 

the  evil  spirit  was  leaped  on  them,  and  mastered  both 

of  them,  and  prevailed  against  them,  so  that  they  fled 

17.  out  of  that  house  naked  and  wounded.  And  this  be- 
came known  to  all,  both  Jews  and  Greeks,  that  dwelt 
at  Ephesus ;  and  °f ear  fell  upon  them  all,  and  the  name 

18.  of  the  Lord  Jesus  was  magnified.  Many  also  of  them 
that  had  believed  came,  confessing,  and  declaring  their 

19.  deeds.  And  not  a  few  of  them  that  practised  curious 
arts  brought  their  books  together,  and  burned  them  in 
the  sight  of  all  :   and  °they  counted  the  price  of  them, 

20.  and  found  it  °fifty  thousand  pieces  of  silver.  °So 
mightily  grew  the  word  of  the  Lord  and  prevailed. 


the  pronoun  refers  to  the  'seven';  but  according  to  the  next  verse, 
it  refers  to  only  two  of  the  seven.  Jesus  I  know,  and  Paul  I  know. 
Different  Greek  verbs  are  used  in  these  two  clauses,  and  the  suggestion 
from  their  difference  is  that  the  demoniac  professed  a  more  intimate 
acquaintance  with  Jesus  than  with  Paul.  It  will  be  noticed  that  it 
is  the  evil  spirit  who  is  said  to  make  this  statement. 

17.  Fear  fell  upon  them  all.  The  declaration  of  the  evil  spirit 
seemed  to  people  like  a  voice  from  the  unseen  world.  The  fear  that 
fell  on  the  community  was  a  superstitious  awe  for  the  power  of  Jesus 
whom  the  spirit  said  that  he  knew,  and  for  the  name  of  Paul  of  whom 
the  spirit  said  he  had  heard. 

18.  This  verse  describes  one  effect  of  the  significant  event  men- 
tioned in  vs.  16.  It  is  represented  as  reaching  some  persons'  con- 
sciences through  their  superstitious  fear,  and  as  leading  to  confession 
of  deeds  (possibly  "  magic  ")  which  now  at  least  they  regarded  as 
wrong. 

19.  They  counted  the  price.  That  is,  presumably,  the  men  who 
had  owned  the  books.  Fifty  thousand  pieces  of  silver.  That  is, 
approximately,  $8333,  assuming  that  the  drachma  was  worth  sixteen 
and  two-thirds  cents. 

20.  So  mightily  grew  the  word  of  the  Lord.  The  collapse  of  magic 
just  described  is  here  attributed  to  the  growth  of  the  word  of  the  Lord. 
This  evidence  of  the  progress  of  the  Gospel  is  less  tangible  than  that 
of  vs.  10,  but  for  a  city  steeped  in  magic  it  may  not  have  been  without 
value. 

182 


ACTS 

21.  Now  °after  these  things  were  ended,  Paul  °purposed 
in  the  spirit,  when  he  had  passed  through  Macedonia 
and  Achaia,  to  go  to   Jerusalem,  saying.  After  I  have 

22.  been  there,  I  must  also  see  Rome.  And  having  sent 
into  Macedonia  two  of  them  that  ministered  unto  him, 
Timothy  and  °Erastus,  he  himself  stayed  in  Asia  for  a 
while. 

23.  And  °about  that  time  there  arose  no  small  stir  con- 

24.  cerning  the  Way.  For  a  certain  man  named  Demetrius, 
a  silversmith,  which  made  °silver  shrines  of  Diana, 

25.  brought  no  little  business  unto  °the  craftsmen;  °whom 
he  gathered  together,  °with  the  workmen  of  like  occu- 

21.  After  these  things  were  ended.  That  is,  the  things  of  vss. 
1-20.  It  was  not  at  the  very  close  of  the  Ephesian  sojourn  (see  vs. 
22),  but  near  it.  Purposed  in  the  spirit.  One  reason  why  he  purposed 
these  trips  ending  at  Rome  is  furnished  by  Rom.  15  :  19,  23.  Paul 
was  looking  toward  the  western  metropolis  because  he  had  finished 
his  work  of  evangelization  in  the  East.  Subordinate  to  the  main 
purpose  of  visiting  Rome  was  the  purpose  to  go  to  Jerusalem  after 
having  visited  Macedonia  and  Achaia.  This  visit  which  he  planned 
to  Macedonia  and  Achaia  was  presumably  for  the  sake  of  strength- 
ening the  churches  which  he  had  founded  there  on  his  second  tour. 
The  accomplishment  of  this  purpose  is  recorded  in  20  :  1-6.  The  plan 
to  visit  Jerusalem  which  appears  here  for  the  first  time  is  referred  to 
by  Paul  himself  in  a  letter  written  from  Ephesus  (i  Cor.  16  :  3-4). 

22.  The  purpose  of  this  mission  of  Timothy  and  Erastus  into  Mace- 
donia is  not  indicated  by  Luke,  unless  indeed  we  suppose,  in  view  of 
vs.  21,  that  Luke  thought  that  Timothy  and  Erastus  were  to  prepare 
for  Paul's  coming.  But  comp.  i  Cor.  16  :  1-9.  Erastus.  This  was 
very  likely  the  same  man  of  whom  Paul  speaks  in  Rom.  16 :  23, — 
treasurer  of  Corinth. 

23.  About  that  time.  That  is,  the  time  of  the  mission  of  Timothy 
and  Erastus  into  Macedonia.     Comp.  i  Cor.  16  :  9. 

24.  Silver  shrines.  These  were  small  models  of  the  temple  of 
Diana.  They  were  made  of  various  materials  besides  silver,  as  marble 
and  terra  cotta.  The  craftsmen.  Demetrius  appears  to  have  been  a 
large  manufacturer  who  employed  many  skilled  laborers. 

25.  Whom  he  gathered  together.  It  would  appear  that  his  work- 
men were  located  in  different  places,  perhaps  working  in  their  own 
homes,  as  do,  or  did,  the  clock-makers  in  the  Black  Forest.     With 

183 


ACTS 

pation,  and  said,  Sirs,  ye  know  that  °by  this  business 

26.  we  have  our  wealth.  And  ye  see  and  hear,  that  not 
alone  at  Ephesus,  but  almost  throughout  all  Asia,  this 
Paul  hath  persuaded  and  °turned  away  much  people, 
saying  that  they  be  no  gods,  which  are  made  with 

27.  hands  :  and  not  only  is  there  danger  that  °this  our  trade 
come  into  disrepute;  but  also  that  °the  temple  of  the 
great  goddess  Diana  be  made  of  no  account,  and  that 
she  should  even  be  deposed  from  her  magnificence, 

28.  whom  all  Asia  and  the  world  worshippeth.  And  when 
they  heard  this,  they  were  filled  with  wrath,  and  cried 

29.  out,  saying,  °Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians.  And 
the  city  °was  filled  with  the  confusion  :  and  they  rushed 

the  workmen  of  like  occupation.  Thus  Demetrius  proceeded  in  a 
systematic  manner  to  make  the  strongest  possible  opposition  to  the 
new  religion.  By  this  business  we  have  our  wealth.  The  opposition 
to  Paul  at  Philippi  had  arisen  from  the  same  source.  The  spread  of 
Christianity  dealt  a  mortal  blow  to  the  industry  of  Demetrius,  and  it 
was  only  natural  that  he  should  do  what  he  could  to  check  it. 

26.  Valuable  heathen  testimony  to  the  extent  of  Paul's  influence. 
Turned  away.  That  is,  from  the  worship  of  Diana  in  particular. 
Undoubtedly  there  had  begun  to  be  a  falling  off  in  the  demand  for 
shrines. 

27.  This  our  trade.  Or,  '  this  our  part,'  i.e.,  in  the  manufacture 
of  shrines  and  idols.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  practical  pecuniary 
consideration  takes  precedence  of  the  religious  motive.  The  temple 
of  the  great  goddess.  This  building  was  regarded  as  one  of  the 
wonders  of  the  world.  Its  dimensions  were  342  ft.  by  163.  It  was 
a  temple,  a  museum,  and  a  bank.  As  a  temple,  its  great  treasure  was 
the  image  of  Diana;  as  a  museum,  its  chief  possession  was  the  paint- 
ing of  Alexander  by  Apelles ;  and  as  a  bank,  it  contained  large 
amounts  of  precious  stones  and  money. 

28.  Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians.  This  assertion  of  her  great- 
ness came  as  a  natural  reaction  from  the  contemplation  of  the  dis- 
honor which  had  been  done  her. 

29.  Was  filled  with  the  confusion.  As  the  crowd  of  artisans  whose 
passions  had  been  stirred  by  Demetrius  left  their  place  of  assembly 
and  set  out  for  the  theatre  they  filled  the  city  with  confusion.  The 
theatre.  This  is  said  to  have  seated  twenty-five  thousand.  Its  ruins 
are  still  immense.     Gaius  and  Aristarchus.    Of  this  Gains  we  have  no 

184 


ACTS 

with  one  accord  into  °the  theatre,  having  seized  °Gaius 
and   Aristarchus,    men   of    Macedonia,    Paul's    com- 

30.  panions  in  travel.  And  when  Paul  was  minded  to 
enter  in  unto  the  people,  the  disciples  suffered  him 

31.  not.  And  certain  also  of  the  °^  chief  officers  of  Asia, 
being  his  friends,  sent  unto  him,  and  besought  him 

32.  not  to  adventure  himself  into  the  theatre.  Some 
therefore  cried  one  thing,  and  some  another  :  for  the 
assembly  was  in  confusion;  and  °the  more  part  knew 

$^.  not  wherefore  they  were  come  together.  And  they 
°brought  Alexander  out  of  the  multitude,  the  Jews  put- 
ting him  forward.  And  Alexander  beckoned  with  the 
hand,  and  would  have  made  a  defence  unto  the  people. 

34.   But  when  they  perceived  °that  he  was  a  Jew,  all  with 

'  Or,  Asiarchs. 


further  knowledge.  Aristarchus  comes  forward  into  prominence 
at  a  later  day.  See  20  :  4;  27  :  2.  This  reference  to  Gaius  and  Aris- 
tarchus as  fellow-travellers  of  Paul  is  one  of  many  incidental  features 
of  Acts,  which  suggest  that  our  knowledge  of  him  is  fragmentary. 

31.  Chief  officers.  There  was  one  Asiarch  (see  R.V.m.)  for  each 
of  the  great  cities.  As  several  are  here  referred  to,  it  is  possible  that 
some  occasion  had  brought  together  a  number  from  other  cities  of 
the  province,  but  it  is  also  possible  that  the  title,  which  was  one  of 
great  honor,  was  continued  even  after  a  man's  term  of  office  had 
expired.  The  fact  that  several  Asiarchs  were  friendly  to  Paul  and 
that  they  immediately  communicated  with  him  when  the  disturbance 
arose,  is  another  striking  evidence  of  the  extent  of  his  influence. 

32.  The  more  part  knew  not.  It  is  obvious  that  the  company 
whom  Demetrius  had  addressed  formed  but  a  small  part  of  the  crowd 
gathered  in  the  theatre.  And  now  the  tumultuous  gathering  was  no 
longer  to  be  controlled  by  Demetrius,  or  indeed  capable  of  being 
informed  of  the  real  purpose  of  the  assembly. 

33.  Brought  Alexander  out  of  the  multitude.  This  verse  suggests 
that  charges  had  been  made  against  the  Jews  in  general,  and  that 
Alexander,  if  he  had  been  allowed  to  speak,  would  have  sought  to 
show  that  it  was  only  Paul  and  his  followers  who  were  dangerous  to 
the  peace  of  the  community. 

i8s 


ACTS 

one  voice  about  the  space  of  two  hours  cried  out,  Great 

35.  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians.  And  when  the  °townclerk 
had  quieted  the  multitude,  he  saith.  Ye  men  of  Ephe- 
sus,  what  man  is  there  who  knoweth  not  how  that  the 
city  of  the  Ephesians  is  temple-keeper  of  the  great 
Diana,  and  °of  the  image  which  fell  down  from  Jupiter  ? 

36.  Seeing  then  that  these  things  cannot  be  gainsaid,  ye 

37.  ought  to  be  quiet,  and  to  do  nothing  rash.  For  ye 
have  brought  hither  °these  men,  which  are  ^neither  rob- 

38.  bers  of  temples  nor  blasphemers  of  our  goddess.  If 
therefore  Demetrius,  and  the  craftsmen  that  are  with 
him,  have  a  matter  against  any  man,  °the  courts  are 
open,  and  there  are  ^proconsuls  :  let  them  accuse  one 

34.  That  he  was  a  Jew.  Hatred  of  the  Jews  as  a  race  was  not 
unknown  in  Ephesus. 

35.  Townclerk.  The  respect  shown  him  by  the  tumultuous 
assembly  shows  that  he  was  an  officer  of  much  authority,  and  his 
words  indicate  that  he  was  a  man  of  ability.  It  is  possible  that  he 
was  one  of  the  Asiarchs  or  chief  priests  who  were  friendly  to  Paul. 
Of  the  image  which  fell  down  from  Jupiter.  The  Greek  says  simply 
'  that  which  fell  from  Zeus.'  It  is  not  called  an  *  image  '  and  so  put 
in  a  class  with  the  works  of  men's  hands.  It  was  very  probably 
a  meteorite  in  some  way  resembling  a  female  form. 

37.  These  men.  See  vs.  29.  The  town  clerk  had  learned  in 
some  way  that  there  was  no  valid  charge  against  Gains  and  Aristar- 
chus.  Neither  robbers  of  temples  nor  blasphemers  of  our  goddess. 
The  specification  of  these  two  offences  may  justify  us  in  supposing 
that  they  had  virtually  been  brought  against  Gains  and  Aristarchus. 
The  charges  are  intelligible  from  the  point  of  view  of  Demetrius. 
He  naturally  classed  the  disciples  of  Paul  with  Paul,  and  since  his 
teaching  was  against  idolatry  and  all  the  gods  of  the  heathen,  Deme- 
trius could  describe  Christians,  rhetorically  at  least,  as  '  robbers  of 
temples  '  and  '  blasphemers  of  Diana.'  But  the  town  clerk  knew 
that  this  charge  was  really  without  ground. 

38.  This  verse  also  shows  that  the  town  clerk  had  obtained  some 
details  in  regard  to  the  origin  and  aim  of  the  tumultuous  assembly. 
He  had  learned  that  Demetrius  and  the  artisans  were  the  leaders  in 
it.  The  courts  are  open.  The  Greek  word  translated  '  courts ' 
means  *  relating  to  the  market,'  for  it  was  there  that  the  judicial  as- 
sembly was  held.     Proconsuls.    There  was  only  one  at  a  time,  but 

186 


ACTS  20:2 

39.  another.     But  if  ye  seek  °anything  about  other  mat- 

40.  ters,  it  shall  be  settled  in  °the  regular  assembly.  For 
indeed  °we  are  in  danger  to  be  accused  concerning  this 
day's  riot,  there  being  no  cause /<?r  it:  and  as  touch- 
ing it  we  shall  not  be  able  to  give  account  of  °this  con- 

41.  course.  And  when  he  had  thus  spoken,  he  dismissed 
the  assembly. 

The  European  churches  revisited,  20  :  1-3 

20.       And  after  the  uproar  was  ceased,  Paul  having  sent 

for  the  disciples   and  exhorted  them,   took  leave  of 

2.   them,  and  departed  for  °to  go  into  Macedonia.    And 

when  he  had  gone  through  those  parts,  and  had  given 


when  speaking  of  a  settled  permanent  institution  of  government  one 
might  use  the  plural,  as  we  might  say  of  our  republic  that  we  have 
a  Congress  and  Presidents. 

39.  Anything  about  other  matters.  That  is  to  say,  other  than  a 
suit  against  individuals,  as,  e.g.,  the  condition  of  any  particular  in- 
dustry. The  regular  assembly.  This  was  a  popular  convocation 
but  with  the  sanction  of  the  government,  perhaps  held  on  days  fixed 
by  law. 

40.  We  are  in  danger.  That  is,  the  city  of  Ephesus  was  in  danger 
of  being  accused  by  the  Roman  government  and  of  having  its  liberties 
curtailed.  This  concourse.  The  Greek  word  implies  that  the  gath- 
ering was  disorderly. 

1.  To  go  into  Macedonia.  The  plan  announced  in  19:21  begins 
to  be  fulfilled. 

2.  Luke's  narrative  of  the  movements  of  Paul  for  the  next  few 
months  is  obviously  a  simple  outline.  We  learn  from  Paul's  letters 
that,  having  left  Ephesus  about  Pentecost  (i  Cor.  16  :  8),  he  went  to 
Troas  and  stopped  for  a  time  (2  Cor.  2  :  12);  then,  as  Titus  did  not 
come  to  him,  he  went  over  into  Macedonia  and  visited  the  churches 
in  the  interest  of  the  collection  for  the  poor  in  Jerusalem  (2  Cor.  8 : 1-5). 
Luke  nowhere  refers  to  the  collection,  but  in  20  :  4  he  mentions  the 
escort  of  Paul  as  he  set  out  from  Corinth,  an  escort  representing  Paul's 
churches  in  Europe  and  Asia,  and  which  therefore  implies  some 
special  significance  for  this  journey,  such  as  carrying  the  collection 

187 


20 : 3  ACTS 

3.  them  much  exhortation,  he  came  °into  Greece.  And 
when  he  had  spent  °three  months  there^  and  °a  plot  was 
laid  against  him  by  the  Jews,  as  he  was  about  to  set 
sail  for  Syria,  he  determined  to  return  through  Mace- 
donia. 

to  Jerusalem.     Into  Greece.    The  older  national  term  is  here  used, 
apparently  as  equivalent  to  the  provincial  term  '  Achaia  '  (19  :  21). 

3.  Three  months  there.  This  was  the  winter  following  the  Pente- 
cost which  he  hoped  to  spend  in  Ephesus.  See  i  Cor.  16  :  6-8.  The 
time  seems  to  have  been  spent  largely  in  Corinth.  A  plot.  This  was 
probably  a  plot  to  kill  him,  like  that  of  his  countrymen  in  Damascus 
(9 :  23-24),  or  later  that  which  was  made  in  Jerusalem  (23  :  30). 
Since  this  plot  led  Paul  to  change  his  plan  from  a  sea  voyage  to 
Syria  to  a  land  journey  through  Macedonia,  it  seems  as  though  its 
execution  depended  in  some  way  upon  his  going  to  Syria  by  ship. 


188 


Part  IV. —Paul  in   Bonds:    Jerusalem,   C^esarea, 
Rome,  20  :  4-28  :  31 

The  journey  from  Corinth  to  Jerusalem,  20  :  4-21  :  16      20  : 4 

4.  And  °there  accompanied  him  °as  far  as  Asia 
Sopater  of  Beroea,  the  son  of  Pyrrhus;  and  of  the 
Thessalonians,  Aristarchus  and  Secundus;  and  Gaius 
of  Derbe,  and  Timothy;   ^  and  of  Asia,  Tychicus  and 

5.  Trophimus.    But  °these  had  gone  before,  and  were 

I  Codex  D  has  'of  Ephesus,'  not  'of  Asia.' 

4.  There  accompanied  him.  That  is,  when  he  set  out  from  Greece. 
When  these  men  had  joined  Paul  in  Corinth,  we  do  not  know,  but  it  is 
obvious  that  they  met  him  there  with  the  understanding  that  they  were 
to  go  on  to  Syria  by  ship.  Of  the  seven  men  who  journeyed  with  Paul 
from  Corinth  only  two  have  been  previously  mentioned  in  Acts,  viz., 
Aristarchus  (19  :  29)  and  Timothy  (16:1).  In  view  of  i  Cor.  16  :  3-4 
it  is  natural  to  regard  these  men  as  delegates  appointed  by  the  churches 
to  go  to  Jerusalem  with  the  collection  which  Paul  had  made  for  the 
poor.  They  represented  the  provinces  of  Macedonia  and  Asia, 
also  the  field  of  Paul's  first  missionary  journey  in  Pisidia  and  Lyca- 
onia,  and  we  may  suppose  that  Paul  himself  represented  Achaia.  As 
far  as  Asia.  These  words  are  to  be  dropped.  See  R.V.m.  They 
are  at  variance  with  vs.  5,  for  according  to  that  these  men  did 
not  accompany  Paul  *  as  far  as  Asia,'  but  only  to  Philippi.  From 
there  they  went  without  him  to  Asia,  and  in  Troas  were  waiting  for 
him,  obviously  to  journey  with  him  farther.  Then,  again,  one  of  the 
seven  is  actually  mentioned  by  name  as  being  in  Jerusalem  with 
Paul,  showing  that  of  him  at  least  it  was  not  true  that  he  went  only 
*  as  far  as  Asia.'     See  also  the  next  note. 

5.  These  had  gone  before.  This  is  said  from  the  writer's  point  of 
view.  For  some  unknown  reason  the  men  who  had  come  with  Paul 
from  Corinth  left  him  at  Philippi,  and  went  ahead  to  Troas.  The 
writer  of  the  Diary  joins  Paul  at  Philippi,  for  the  narrative  here  is 
continued  in  the  first  person  ('  waiting  for  us'),  which  was  dropped 
in  16 :  17. 

189 


ACTS 

waiting  for  us  at  Troas.  And  we  °sailed  away  from 
Philippi  °after  the  days  of  unleavened  bread,  and  came 
unto  them  to  Troas  in  five  days;  where  °we  tarried 
seven  days. 

And  upon  °the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  we  were 
gathered  together  °to  break  bread,  Paul  discoursed  with 
them,  °intending  to  depart  on  the  morrow;  and  pro- 
longed his  speech  until  midnight.  And  there  were 
°many  lights  in  the  upper  chamber,  where  we  were 
gathered  together.  And  there  sat  in  the  window  a 
certain  young  man  named  Eutychus,  borne  down  with 
deep  sleep;  and  as  Paul  discoursed  yet  longer,  being 
borne  down  by  his  sleep  he  fell  down  from  the  third 


6.  Sailed  away  from  Philippi.  That  is,  from  Neapolis,  the  nearest 
harbor.  See  i6  :  ii.  After  the  days  of  unleavened  bread.  If,  then, 
Paul  left  Ephesus  for  Macedonia  and  Greece  about  Pentecost  (i  Cor. 
i6  :  8),  his  entire  stay  in  Greece  and  Macedonia  had  been  almost  a 
year.  We  tarried  seven  days.  This  was  the  place  where  Paul,  the  year 
before,  had  seen  an  opportunity  for  service  which  he  was  obliged  to 
leave  unimproved  (2  Cor.  2:12).  It  is  possible  that  the  present  stay 
had  reference  not  simply  to  the  believers  in  Troas  but  also  to  evange- 
listic work. 

7.  The  first  day  of  the  week.  This  is  the  only  reference  in  Acts  to 
a  religious  observance  of  Sunday.  Such  an  observance  seems  to  be 
implied  in  i  Cor.  16  :  2,  which  was  earlier  than  Paul's  visit  to  Troas. 
To  break  bread.  See  note  on  2  :  46.  According  to  vs.  11  the  bread 
was  broken  by  Paul,  which  clearly  indicates,  what  would  indeed  be 
quite  certain  on  other  grounds,  that  the  reference  is  to  the  Lord's 
Supper.  The  Christians  were  gathered  together  for  this,  and  it  was 
observed  about  midnight.  Intending  to  depart  on  the  morrow. 
This  circumstance  apparently  had  something  to  do  with  the  length  of 
Paul's  discourse.  It  was  his  last  opportunity,  and  therefore  he  pro- 
longed his  speech. 

8.  Many  lights.  These  are  possibly  mentioned  to  account  for 
what  follows  in  the  next  verse.  Luke  may  have  thought  that  Euty- 
chus retired  to  the  open  window  on  account  of  the  heat  of  the  room 
to  which  the  '  many  lights  '  certainly  contributed.  Perhaps,  how- 
ever, we  should  regard  the  mention  of  the  lights  as  nothing  more  than 
a  graphic  touch  natural  to  an  eye-witness. 

190 


ACTS 

10.  story,  and  was  °taken  up  dead.  And  Paul  went  down, 
and  fell  on  him,  and  ^embracing  him  said,  Make  ye  no 

11.  ado;  for  his  life  is  in  him.  And  when  he  was  gone 
up,  and  had  broken  the  bread,  and  eaten,  and  had 
talked  with  them  a  long  while,  °even  till  break  of  day, 

12.  so  he  departed.  ^And  °they  brought  the  lad  alive,  and 
were  not  a  little  comforted. 

13.  But  °we,  °going  before  to  the  ship,  set  sail  for  °Assos, 
there  intending  to  take  in  Paul :   for  °so  had  he  ap- 

14.  pointed,  intending  himself  to  go  by  land.  And  when 
he  met  us  at  Assos,  we  took    him   in,  and  came  to 


*  Codex  D  has  '  and  when  they  were  saying  farewell  he  brought  the  young  man 
alive.' 


9.  Taken  up  dead.  The  following  verses,  especially  the  next  one, 
seem  to  require  us  to  understand  these  words  as  indicating  apparent 
death.  Those  who  saw  him,  except  Paul,  said  that  he  was  dead.  In 
like  manner,  the  people  who  dragged  Paul  out  of  Lystra  thought 
him  dead. 

10.  Embracing  him.  The  act  of  embracing  the  body  of  Eutychus 
suggests  the  desire  of  communicating  warmth  and  life.  It  resembled 
somewhat  the  procedure  of  Elijah  and  Elisha  (iK,  17:11;  2K. 
4  :  34),  but  there  is  no  mention  of  prayer.  Indeed  the  narrative  con- 
tains no  suggestion  of  a  miracle  by  Paul.  After  the  simple  physical 
contact  with  the  body,  he  said  that  the  young  man's  life  was  in  him. 
In  other  words,  he  discovered  that  the  bystanders  were  mistaken. 

11.  Even  till  break  of  day.  Thus  Paul  had  spoken  a  good  part  of 
the  night,  Comp.  28  :  23.  Yet  the  longest  report  of  one  of  Paul's 
addresses  can  easily  be  read  in  five  minutes.  Such  abstracts  can, 
of  course,  give  only  the  main  purport  of  what  he  said. 

12.  They  brought.  Or,  as  we  may  render  the  Greek,  'they  led 
away  ';  naturally  this  was  to  his  home, 

13.  We.  That  is,  the  writer  together  with  the  men  of  vs,  4  who 
had  joined  him  and  Paul  at  Troas.  Going  before  to  the  ship. 
The  definite  article  may  indicate  that  it  was  the  same  ship  by  which 
they  had  come  from  Neapolis.  Assos.  This  city  was  about  twenty 
miles  south  of  Troas,  just  around  the  Lectum  Promontory  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Adramyttian  Gulf.  So  had  he  appointed.  Why 
Paul  chose  to  go  on  foot  we  have  not  the  faintest  clew. 

191 


ACTS 

15.  °Mitylene.  And  sailing  from  thence,  we  came  the 
following  day  over  against  °Chios ;  and  the  next  day 
we  touched  at  °Samos ;  and  ^  the  day  after  we  came  to 

16.  °Miletus.  For  Paul  °had  determined  to  sail  past  Ephe- 
sus,  °that  he  might  not  have  to  spend  time  in  Asia; 
for  he  was  hastening,  if  it  were  possible  for  him,  to  be 
at  Jerusalem  the  day  of  Pentecost. 

17.  And  from  Miletus  he  sent  to  Ephesus,  and  ^called  to 

18.  him  the  elders  of  the  church.  And  when  they  were 
come  to  him,  he  said  unto  them, 

'  Many  Mss.  insert  'having  tarried  at  Trogyllium.* 


14.  Mitylene.  This  city,  situated  on  the  east  coast  of  the  island 
of  Lesbos,  was  about  thirty  miles  from  Assos. 

15.  Chios.  The  chief  city  of  the  island  of  Chios,  situated  on  its 
eastern  side,  about  seventy  miles  from  Mitylene.  Samos.  Capital 
of  the  famous  island  of  the  same  name,  situated  on  its  southeastern 
side  about  eighty  miles  from  Chios,  and  having  a  fine  harbor.  Paul's 
ship  put  in  here,  possibly  for  the  night.  It  seems  probable  that  the 
ship  also  stopped  at  Trogyllium,  an  Ionian  town  near  Samos,  and  about 
twenty  miles  by  water  from  Miletus.  Miletus,  The  metropolis  of 
Ionia,  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  Maeander  River,  about  thirty- 
five  miles  south  of  Ephesus. 

16.  Had  determined  to  sail  past  Ephesus.  This  verse  gives  the 
reason  for  the  statement  immediately  preceding,  that  they  made  no 
stop  between  Samos  (or  Trogyllium)  and  Miletus.  That  reason  was 
Paul's  determination  '  to  sail  past  Ephesus.'  The  most  natural,  if  not 
the  only  possible,  explanation  of  these  words  is  that  Paul  had  practical 
control  of  the  movements  of  the  ship.  Comp.  also  vs.  14.  That  he 
might  not  have  to  spend  time  in  Asia.  The  field  in  which  he  had 
labored  longest  and  where  his  labors  had  met  with  very  great  success 
would  appeal  to  him  so  strongly  that  he  would  be  almost  forced  to 
stay  a  few  days  at  least,  and  this  might  destroy  his  plan  to  be  in 
Jerusalem  at  Pentecost. 

17.  Called  to  him  the  elders  of  the  church.  This  necessitated  a 
stop  of  about  two  days.  The  reason  for  this  summoning  of  the  elders 
may  have  been  Paul's  apprehension,  felt  for  some  time  (Rom.  15  :  30- 
31)  and  now  apparently  deeper  than  before  (vs.  25),  that  he  should 
never  be  in  this  region  again. 

18.  Set  foot  in  Asia.     That  is,  from  his  arrival  in  Ephesus  where 

19a 


ACTS 

Ye  yourselves  know,  from  the  first  day  that  I  °set 
foot  in  Asia,  after  what  manner  I  was  with  you  all  the 

19.  time,  serving  the  Lord  °with  all  lowliness  of  mind,  and 
°with  tears,  and  °with  trials  which  befell  me  by  the  plots 

20.  of  the  Jews  :  how  that  I  shrank  not  from  declaring  unto 
you  anything  that  was  profitable,  and  teaching  you 

21.  publicly,  and  from  house  to  house,  °testifying  both   to 
Jews  and  to  Greeks  repentance  toward  God,  and  faith 

22.  toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     °And  now,  behold,  I  go 
°bound  in  the  spirit  unto  Jerusalem,  °not  knowing  the 

23.  things  that  shall  befall  me  there  :   save  that  °the  Holy 
Ghost  testifieth  unto  me  °in  every  city,  saying  that  bonds 

his  work  for  Asia  was  chiefly  done.     He  had  crossed  the  province 
before,  on  his  way  to  Troas  on  the  second  missionary  journey. 

19.  With  all  lowliness  of  mind.  He  had  not  put  forward  any 
apostolic  prerogatives.  He  had  supported  himself  by  his  own  labor 
(vs.  34),  and  had  gone  with  his  message  from  house  to  house  (vs.  20). 
With  tears.  A  mark  of  the  sincerity  and  depth  of  his  feeling  toward 
those  whom  he  had  won  over  to  the  Gospel.  Comp.  vs.  31;  2  Cor. 
2  :  4.  With  trials.  In  Ephesus  as  elsewhere  the  chief  trials  that  befell 
him  came  from  the  plots  of  the  Jews.  What  these  were  in  particular 
Luke's  account  of  the  Ephesian  ministry  does  not  at  all  suggest. 
But  see  i  Cor.  16:9;   2  Cor.  i  :  8. 

21.  Testifying  .  .  .  repentance  .  .  .  and  faith.  That  is,  sol- 
emnly asserting  that  repentance  and  faith  are  necessary  to  salvation. 

22.  And  now,  behold.  A  Pauline  phrase  (see  13  :  11;  20  :  26)  in- 
troducing something  of  uncommon  importance.  Bound  in  the  spirit. 
He  felt  an  inner  constraining  impulse  to  go  to  Jerusalem,  a  sense 
that  his  ministry  would  not  otherwise  be  accomplished  (vs.  24).  Comp. 
Rom.  15  :  31.  Not  knowing.  That  is,  as  appears  from  what  fol- 
lows, not  knowing  in  detail  and  not  knowing  the  outcome,  whether  he 
should  be  delivered  from  the  disobedient  in  Jerusalem  (Rom.  15:31). 

23.  The  Holy  Ghost  testifieth.  This  *  testifying  '  can  be  traced  as 
far  back  as  Corinth  (Rom.  15  :  31).  On  what,  in  particular,  his  con- 
viction was  based  that  imprisonment  and  affliction  awaited  him  in 
Jerusalem,  we  are  not  told.  It  may  have  been  his  long  experience  of 
the  mortal  enmity  of  the  Jews,  of  which  a  fresh  manifestation  had 
recently  been  given  in  Corinth  (20  :  3).  He  might  well  anticipate 
that  this  enmity  would  be  bitterest  at  the  centre  of  that  religion  which 
he  was  thought  to  be  overthrowing.       In  every  city.     Since  the  for- 

o  193 


ACTS 

24.  and  afflictions  abide  me.  But  I  liold  not  my  life  of 
any  account,  as  dear  unto  myself,  so  that  I  may  ac- 
complish °my  course,  and  the  ministry  which  I  re- 
ceived from  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the  gospel  of 

25.  the  grace  of  God.  And  now,  behold,  I  know  that  ye 
all,  °among  whom  I  went  about  preaching  the  kingdom, 

26.  °shall  see  my  face  no  more.  Wherefore  I  testify  unto 
you  this  day,  that  °I  am  pure  from  the  blood  of  all  men. 

27.  For  I  shrank  not  from  declaring  unto  you  °the  whole 

28.  counsel  of  God.  °Take  heed  unto  yourselves,  and  to 
all  the  flock,  in  the  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made 
you  °bishops,  to  feed  °the  church  of  God,  which  he 

mation  of  his  purpose  to  go  to  Jerusalem,  he  had  been  in  Ephesus, 
Corinth,  Philippi,  and  Troas.  The  fact  that  Luke's  narrative  makes 
no  mention  of  Jewish  hostility  toward  Paul  in  Philippi  and  Troas  is,  of 
course,  no  proof  that  there  was  no  such  hostility. 

24.  As  a  commentary  on  the  main  assertion  of  this  verse  see 
2  Cor.  II  :  24-27.  My  course.  This  word,  borrowed  from  the  Greek 
athletic  contests,  is  found  in  the  NT.  only  in  language  attributed  to 
Paul  (13  :  25;   20  :  24;    2  Tim.  4:7). 

25.  Among  whom  I  went  about.  This  expression  alone  is  not 
sufficient  evidence  to  justify  the  view  that  Paul  made  tours  through 
the  province.  It  could  quite  well  be  used  of  his  house-to-house  visita- 
tion through  the  great  city  of  Ephesus.  Shall  see  my  face  no  more. 
As  Paul  hoped  to  go  from  Jerusalem  to  Rome  and  from  Rome  to  Spain 
(Rom.  15  :  24),  he  could  not  reasonably  expect  to  visit  Ephesus  again. 
His  words  are  to  be  regarded  as  a  strong  expression  of  the  feeling  that 
filled  his  heart  rather  than  as  an  inspired  prediction.  Whether  as  a 
matter  of  fact  Paul  did  visit  Ephesus  again  depends  on  the  further 
question  whether  he  wrote  the  Epistles  to  Timothy.  According  to 
a  Tim.  4  :  20  he  was  again  in  Miletus,  and  according  to  i  Tim.  i  :  3 
he  saw  Ephesus  yet  once  more. 

26.  I  am  pure  from  the  blood  of  all  men.  On  the  figure  see  notes 
on  5  :  28;   18  :  6.     Paul  was  conscious  of  having  done  his  whole  duty. 

27.  The  whole  counsel  of  God.  That  is,  in  the  light  of  vss.  24-25, 
the  whole  counsel  of  God  regarding  salvation. 

28.  Take  heed  unto  yourselves.  This  injunction  is  emphasized 
by  the  fact  that  Paul  had  done  his  whole  duty.  Bishops.  This  word 
occurs  only  here  in  Luke's  writings,  three  times  in  Paul.  Their 
appointment  as  bishops  is  attributed  to  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the  convic- 

194 


ACTS  20 :  33 

29.  purchased  with  his  own  blood.  °I  know  that  after  °my 
departing  °grievous  wolves  shall  enter  in  among  you, 

30.  not  sparing  the  flock ;  and  °f rom  among  your  own  selves 
shall  men  arise,  speaking  perverse  things,  to  draw  away 

31.  the  disciples  after  them.  Wherefore  °watch  ye,  remem- 
bering that  by  the  space  of  three  years  I  ceased  not  to  ad- 

32.  monish  every  one  night  and  day  with  tears.  And  now 
I  commend  you  to  God,  and  to  °the  word  of  his  grace, 
which  is  able  to  build  you  up,  and  to  give  you  the  in- 

33.  heritance  among  all  them  that  are  sanctified.     I  coveted 

tion  that  the  Spirit  was  the  controlling  power  in  the  Church.  As  to 
the  specific  manner  in  which  the  will  of  the  Spirit  was  made  known, 
see  14  :  23;  13  :  2-3.  The  church  of  God.  It  is  in  accord  with  Paul's 
usage  to  call  the  Church  *  the  church  of  God.'  Once  he  uses  the  ex- 
pression *  churches  of  Christ '  (Rom.  16  :  16).  At  the  same  time  the 
collocation  *  blood  of  God  '  is  wholly  foreign  to  Paul's  conception  of 
God  and  to  his  teaching  on  the  divinity  of  Christ.  The  text  of  the 
passage  is  uncertain.  Instead  of  the  word  '  God  '  some  Mss.  have 
'  Lord,'  referring  to  Jesus,  and  this  is  more  likely  to  have  been  the 
original  reading. 

29.  I  know.  His  conviction  was  based  on  his  experience  and 
knowledge  both  of  the  church  and  the  world.  My  departing.  That 
is,  from  Ephesus.  He  had  already  been  absent  nearly  a  year,  but 
during  that  time  he  had  remained  in  touch  with  the  church;  now  he 
is  going  far  away  into  engrossing  perils  and  labors.  Grievous  wolves. 
This  figure  is  in  keeping  with  the  '  flock '  of  the  last  verse.  The  danger 
is  something  from  without  the  church,  as  persecutions  by  the  Jews  or 
by  the  heathen. 

30.  From  among  your  own  selves.  Paul's  recent  experience  with 
the  church  at  Corinth,  in  which  the  formation  of  parties  had  threatened 
to  be  fatal  (i  Cor.  i  :  10-13;  2  Cor.  10-13),  may  have  made  him  the 
more  apprehensive  for  the  church  at  Ephesus,  which  was  composed 
of  essentially  the  same  material. 

31.  Watch  ye,  remembering.  Their  watching  against  the  im- 
pending perils  is  to  be  in  the  remembrance  of  his  service  among 
them,  and  to  have  the  characteristics  of  that,  —  constancy  and  tender- 
ness. 

32.  The  word  of  his  grace.  That  is,  to  the  truths  of  his  Gospel 
which  they  had  heard  from  Paul.  This  word  is  personified,  a  living 
power  able  to  build  them  up  and  to  secure  for  them  the  promised 
inheritance. 

19s 


ACTS 

34.  no  man's  silver,  or  gold,  or  apparel.  Ye  yourselves 
know  that  °these  hands  ministered  unto  my  necessities, 

35.  and  °to  them  that  were  with  me.  In  all  things  I  gave 
you  an  example,  how  that  °so  labouring  ye  ought  to 
help  °the  weak,  and  to  remember  °the  words  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  how  he  himself  said,  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than 
to  receive. 

36.  And  when  he  had  thus  spoken,  °he  kneeled  down, 

37.  and  prayed  with  them  all.     And  they  all  wept  sore, 

38.  and  fell  on  Paul's  neck,  and  °kissed  him,  sorrowing 
most  of  all  for  the  word  which  he  had  spoken,  that 
they  should  behold  his  face  no  more.  And  they 
brought  him  on  his  way  unto  the  ship. 

21.  And  when  it  came  to  pass  that  °we  were  parted  from 
them,  and  had  set  sail,  we  came  with  a  straight  course 

34.  The  positive  side  of  his  example,  as  vs.  33  is  the  negative. 
These  hands.  The  words  are  emphasized  in  the  Greek  by  their 
position.  As  Paul  spoke,  he  probably  held  up  his  hands  ('  these 
hands  ')  for  them  to  see,  and  his  hands  must  have  borne  traces  of  hard 
toil.  See  18 :  3.  To  them  that  were  with  me.  Paul  earned  more 
than  enough  for  his  own  support,  and  aided  those  who  were  with  him, 
—  a  suggestion  that  he  must  have  possessed  extraordinary  physical 
strength  and  endurance,  and  also  that  he  must  have  been  a  skilful 
artisan. 

35.  So  labouring.  That  is,  with  their  hands.  The  language,  even 
if  it  does  not  wholly  forbid  their  taking  pay  for  their  services,  certainly 
commends  the  principle  of  self-support.  The  weak.  The  Greek 
word  so  translated  means,  always  in  Luke,  sickness,  in  Paul  either 
sickness  {e.g.yVhW.  2:  26)  or  weakness  in  the  faith  (Rom.  14:  i; 
I  Cor.  8:11).  The  latter  meaning  seems  preferable  here.  The  words 
accordingly  suggest  that  Paul  saw  danger  for  a  certain  element  in  the 
church  if  the  elders  took  pay  for  their  services.  The  words  of  the 
Lord  Jesus.     Found  only  here.     See  note  on  i  :  7. 

36.  He  kneeled  down.  Comp.  Lk.  22:41;  Acts  21:5.  We 
must  regard  it  as  a  great  loss  that  early  Christian  literature  did  not 
preserve  with  any  degree  of  fulness  specimens  of  the  prayers  of  such 
leaders  as  Peter  and  James  and  Barnabas  and  Paul. 

37.  Kissed  him.    Greek,  'kissed  repeatedly.' 

I.   We  were  parted  from  them.    The  Greek  verb  here  used  is 
196 


ACTS  21 : 5 

unto  °Cos,  and  the  next  day  unto  °Rhodes,  and  from 

2.  thence  unto  °Patara  :  and°having  found  a  ship  cross- 
ing over  unto  Phoenicia,   we  went  aboard,   and  set 

3.  sail.  And  when  we  had  come  in  sight  of  °Cyprus, 
leaving  it  on  the  left  hand,  we  sailed  unto  Syria,  and 
landed  at  °Tyre  :  for  there  the  ship  was  to  unlade  her 

4.  burden.  And  ^having  found  the  disciples,  we  °tarried 
there  seven  days  :   and  °these  said  to  Paul  through  the 

5.  Spirit,  that  he  should  not  set  foot  in  Jerusalem.  And 
when  it  came  to  pass  that  we  had  accomplished  the 

found  elsewhere  in  the  N.T.  in  the  sense  of  'parting'  only  in  Lk. 
22  :  41,  and  with  that  passage  in  view  we  can  hardly  say  that  it  de- 
notes a  painful  separation.  Cos.  The  name  of  a  small  island,  and 
of  its  capital,  about  fifty-seven  miles  south  of  Miletus.  As  the  home 
of  ^sculapius  and  Hippocrates  it  must  have  been  of  special  interest 
to  the  physician  Luke.  Rhodes.  The  last  island  of  the  ^gean  Sea, 
as  Paul  journeyed  eastward.  Its  capital  of  the  same  name  was  some 
fifty  to  sixty  miles  from  Cos.  Patara.  A  city  of  Lycia  about  sixty 
miles  southeast  of  Rhodes.  Having  found  a  ship.  Here  the  ship 
which  had  brought  them  from  Neapolis,  a  distance  of  about  five 
hundred  miles,  was  left  —  for  what  reason  we  do  not  know  —  and 
passage  taken  on  another  bound  for  Tyre,  a  distance  of  about  four 
hundred  miles. 

3.  Cyprus.  They  sighted  the  island  about  midway  of  their  journey, 
and  passing  it  on  their  left  hand  (comp.  27 :  4),  may  have  seen  Paphos, 
from  which,  some  ten  years  before,  Paul  had  sailed  northward  on  his 
first  missionary  tour.  Tyre.  The  chief  city  of  Phoenicia,  about  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  north  of  Jerusalem  in  a  straight  line. 

4.  Having  found  the  disciples.  The  verb  implies  that  some  search 
was  necessary.  When  or  by  whom  the  church  in  Tyre  was  established 
Luke  does  not  say.  Paul  may  have  been  there,  either  in  the  years  be- 
fore his  work  in  Antioch  (Gal.  i  :  21),  or  on  his  way  to  Jerusalem  as 
a  delegate  from  Antioch  (15  :  3).  Tarried  seven  days.  Evidently 
their  journey  thus  far  had  been  so  prosperous  that  Paul  had  now  a 
considerable  margin  of  time  at  his  disposal.  These  said  to  Paul 
through  the  Spirit.  Presumably  he  had  told  the  disciples  at  Tyre, 
as  he  had  the  Roman  church  by  letter  (Rom.  15  :  31)  and  as  he  had 
recently  told  the  elders  at  Miletus  (20  :  22),  that  he  was  apprehen- 
sive regarding  the  outcome  of  his  trip  to  Jerusalem.  In  reply  to  this 
word  they  said  that  he  should  not  go  thither,  and  they  thought  that 
they  spoke  the  mind  of  the  Spirit.     Paul  thought  otherwise. 

197 


ACTS 

days,  we  departed  and  went  on  our  journey ;  and  °they 
all,  with  wives  and  children,  brought  us  on  our  way,  till 
we  were  out  of  the  city :  and  kneeling  down  on  the  beach, 

6.  we  prayed,  and  bade  each  other  farewell;  and  we 
went  °on  board  the  ship  but  they  returned  home  again. 

7.  And  °when  we  had  finished  the  voyage  from  Tyre, 
we  arrived  at  °Ptolemais ;  and  we  saluted  °the  brethren, 

8.  and  abode  with  them  one  day.  And  on  the  morrow 
we  departed,  and  came  unto  °Caesarea  :  and  entering 
into  the  house  of  °Philip  the  evangelist,  °who  was  one 

5.  They  all,  with  wives  and  children.  This  language,  as  also  the 
first  words  of  vs.  4,  suggests  that  the  number  of  Tyrian  disciples  was 
not  large. 

6.  On  board  the  ship.  This  was  apparently  the  same  ship  which 
they  had  taken  at  Patara.  If  so,  the  captain  appears  to  have  altered 
the  plan  which  he  previously  had,  which  was  to  go  to  Phoenicia  (vs.  2). 
He  now  goes  farther  south  than  Phoenicia,  to  the  coast  of  Judaea  (vs.  7). 

7.  When  we  had  finished  the  voyage  from  Tyre.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  this  rendering  gives  Luke's  thought.  It  is  possible  that  by 
'  voyage  '  he  meant  the  entire  journey  by  ship  from  Neapolis.  This 
sea  voyage  was  completed  when  they  had  covered  the  distance  be- 
tween Tyre  and  Ptolemais.  This  explanation  is  supported  by  the 
fact  that,  in  the  next  verse,  in  speaking  of  the  journey  from  Ptolemais 
to  Caesarea,  no  reference  is  made  to  a  ship,  while  in  every  preceding 
case  where  it  was  possible  to  go  from  one  station  to  another  by  land 
or  by  ship,  it  is  specified  that  they  went  by  water.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  they  left  the  ship  at  Ptolemais  and  went  to  Caesarea  by  land, 
we  should  expect  that  the  words  of  vs.  15,  *  we  took  up  our  baggage,' 
would  have  stood  at  the  beginning  of  vs.  8.  It  is  possible  that  their 
*  baggage  '  went  down  to  Caesarea  by  boat,  while  they  walked.  But 
it  is  difficult  to  decide  for  either  view.  We  should  expect  that  they 
would  go  by  boat  as  far  as  possible,  for  this  was  the  easier  and  quicker 
way  of  reaching  their  destination.  Ptolemais.  The  modern  Acre, 
some  twenty  miles  south  from  Tyre.  The  brethren.  This  is 
the  first  reference  to  Christian  disciples  at  Ptolemais.  It  is  very 
possible  that  the  church  was  founded  at  the  same  time  as  that  of  Tyre. 

8.  Caesarea.  About  twenty-five  miles  south  of  Ptolemais. 
Philip  the  evangelist.  So  called  only  here.  The  term  is  elsewhere 
in  the  NT.  applied  only  to  one  person  by  name,  i.e.,  Timothy  (2  Tim. 
4:5).  Data  are  lacking  for  any  definite  conception  of  the  meaning 
which  was  given  to  the  word  in  the  apostolic  age.     "Who  was  one  of 

198 


ACTS 

9.   of  the  seven,  we  abode  with  him.     Now  this  man  had 

10.  four  daughters,  virgins,  which  did  prophesy.  And  °as 
we  tarried  there  many  days,  there  came  down  from 

11.  Judaea  a  certain  prophet,  named  Agabus.  And  coming 
to  us,  and  taking  Paul's  girdle,  he  bound  his  own  feet 
and  hands,  and  said.  Thus  saith  the  Holy  Ghost,  So 
shall  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem  bind  the  man  that  owneth 
this  girdle,  and  shall  deliver  him  into  the  hands  of  the 

12.  Gentiles.  And  °when  we  heard  these  things,  both  we 
and  they  of  that  place  besought  him  not  to  go  up  to 

13.  Jerusalem.     Then  Paul  answered.  What  do  ye,  weep- 

the  seven.  The  writer  speaks  as  though  the  account  of  the  Seven 
(6  :  1-6)  were  a  part  of  his  own  narrative,  —  a  circumstance  which 
bears  on  the  unity  of  authorship  of  the  Diary  (to  which  the  present 
passage  belongs)  and  the  Book  of  Acts  as  a  whole. 

9.  The  statement  that  Philip  had  four  unmarried  daughters  who 
possessed  the  gift  of  prophecy  appears  to  stand  in  no  connection  with 
the  narrative.  It  belongs  with  the  class  of  circumstances,  especially 
numerous  in  the  Diary,  which  merely  add  to  the  picturesqueness  of 
the  narrative. 

10.  As  we  tarried  there  many  days.  This  explains  the  coming  of 
Agabus  (see  1 1  :  28)  from  Jerusalem.  Their  stay  in  Caesarea  was  long 
enough  to  allow  word  of  Paul's  arrival  to  reach  Jerusalem  and  Agabus 
to  come  down  to  Caesarea.  It  is  likely  that  he  came  to  dissuade 
Paul  from  entering  Jerusalem. 

11.  The  symbolic  act  of  Agabus,  analogous  to  the  acts  of  OT. 
prophets  {e.g.,  Is.  20  :  2),  conveyed  only  a  part  of  his  thought,  viz., 
that  Paul  was  to  be  bound.  Of  this,  however,  Paul  had  been  convinced 
for  some  time,  at  least  since  he  was  in  Miletus  (20  :  23).  The  new 
thought  of  Agabus  was  that  the  Jews  would  deliver  Paul  over  to  the 
Gentiles.  This  is  what  Jesus  announced  concerning  himself  (Matt. 
20  :  19).  Did  Agabus  wish  to  imply  that  Paul's  fate  would  be  similar 
to  that  of  Jesus,  that  is,  death  at  the  hands  of  the  Gentiles  ?  It  is 
to  be  noticed  that  Agabus  did  not  say  that  Paul  should  not  go  to 
Jerusalem.     He  simply  announced  what  awaited  him  if  he  did  go. 

12.  When  we  heard  these  things.  They  had  known  of  Paul's  ap- 
prehensions (20  :  22)  and  of  the  exhortation  of  the  Tyrian  disciples 
(21  :  4),  but  not  until  they  heard  the  words  of  Agabus  did  Paul's 
companions  entreat  him  not  to  go  to  Jerusalem.  It  appears  alto- 
gether probable  that  they  understood  the  delivery  to  the  Gentiles  as 
equivalent  to  death. 

199 


ACTS 

ing  and  °breaking  my  heart?  °for  I  am   ready  not  to 
be  bound  only,  but  also  to  die  at  Jerusalem  for  the 

14.  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus.  And  °when  he  would  not  be 
persuaded,  we  ceased,  saying,  The  will  of  the  Lord  be 
done. 

15.  And  after  these  days  °we  4ook  up  our  baggage  and 

16.  went  up  to  Jerusalem.  And  °there  went  with  us  also 
certain  of  the  disciples  from  Caesarea,  °bringing  with 
them  one  Mnason  of  Cyprus,  an  early  disciple,  with 
whom  we  should  lodge. 

'  Or,  '  made  ready; '  Codex  D  has  '  having  taken  leave.' 


13.  Breaking  my  heart.  Perhaps  our  '  breaking  the  spirit  * 
gives  the  force  of  the  Greek  here  more  clearly.  Their  weeping  and 
entreaties  would  tend  to  weaken  his  purpose,  which  was  more  to 
him  than  any  mere  sympathetic  sorrow.*  For  I  am  ready  .  .  . 
to  die.  These  words  indicate  that  in  Paul's  thought  the  delivery 
over  to  the  Gentiles,  which  Agabus  had  announced,  was  the  same  as 
a  death  sentence.  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  Paul,  though  a  prophet 
(13  :  i),  did  not  see  what  the  outcome  of  the  Jerusalem  experience 
was  to  be. 

14.  When  he  would  not  be  persuaded.  The  testimony  of  the  Spirit 
of  which  Paul  spoke  at  Miletus  (20  :  23),  and  the  testimony  of  the 
prophet  Agabus,  was  that  bonds  and  imprisonment  and  delivery  to 
the  Gentiles  awaited  him  in  Jerusalem,  but  suffering  was  in  itself  no 
reason  for  turning  back  if  he  still  saw  in  his  ministry  to  the  church  in 
Jerusalem  the  fulfilment  of  a  divine  purpose. 

15.  We  took  up  our  baggage.  Adopting  the  reading  of  the  R.V.m., 
the  words  are  to  be  referred  to  the  necessary  preparation  for  the 
journey  to  Jerusalem,  a  journey  of  about  sixty-seven  miles,  which  was 
doubtless  made  on  foot.  The  travellers  probably  had  little  personal 
baggage.  Paul  may  have  had  a  cloak  (see  2  Tim.  4:12)  and  a  book 
or  two.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  chief  item  of  luggage  was  the 
collection  for  the  poor  which  had  been  gathered  during  the  past  two 
years. 

16.  There  went  with  us  also.  We  may  suppose  that  these  dis- 
ciples who  went  up  with  Paul  from  Caesarea  went  to  celebrate  the 
feast  in  Jerusalem.  Bringing  one  Mnason.  It  is  natural  to  infer  that 
Mnason  had  a  home  in  Jerusalem,  perhaps  also  that  he  was  on  his 
way  to  the  feast,  having  been  absent  for  a  time.    Codex  D  has  the 


ACTS  2i:2i 

Assaulted  by  the  Jews,  taken  into  custody  by  the  Romans , 
21  :  17-40 

17.  And  when  we  were  come  to  Jerusalem,  the  brethren 

18.  ^received  us  gladly.  And  the  day  following  Paul  went 
in  with  us  °unto  James ;  and  all  the  elders  were  present. 

19.  And  when  he  had  saluted  them,  he  rehearsed  one  by 
one  the  things  which  God  had  wrought  among  the 

20.  Gentiles  by  his  ministry.  And  they,  when  they  heard 
it,  °glorified  God ;  and  they  said  unto  him,  Thou  seest, 
brother,  °how  many  thousands  there  are  among  the 
Jews  of  them  which  have  believed;    and  they  are  °all 

21.  zealous  for  the  law  :  and  they  °have  been  informed  con- 
cerning thee,  that  °thou  teachest  all  the  Jews  which  are 
among  the  Gentiles  to  forsake  Moses,  telling  them  not 

following  reading  of  this  uncertain  text :  "  Now  these  brought  us 
to  those  with  whom  we  should  lodge,  and  having  come  to  a  certain 
village  we  were  with  Mnason  of  Cyprus,  an  early  disciple,  and  depart- 
ing thence  we  came  to  Jerusalem." 

17.  Received  us  gladly.  The  eight  companions  of  Paul  seem  to 
have  been  presented  to  the  church  at  Jerusalem  as  delegates  of  the 
Gentile  churches. 

18.  Unto  James.  From  the  silence  of  the  narrative  concerning 
the  apostles  it  may  probably  be  inferred  that  they  were  absent  from 
Jerusalem.  James,  a  brother  of  Jesus  (Gal.  i  :  19),  was  the  head 
of  the  church. 

20.  Glorified  God.  That  is,  they  sang,  as  it  were,  the  *  Dox- 
ology.'  How  many  thousands.  More  literally,  '  how  many  ten 
thousands.'  The  last  significant  indications  of  the  growth  of  the 
church  in  Jerusalem  are  found  in  6  :  7  and  11  :  2-3.  The  language 
of  James,  though  vague,  indicates  that  the  Jerusalem  church  had  made 
large  gains  in  those  years  which  the  narrative  in  Acts  passes  in  silence. 
All  zealous  for  the  law.  This  language  is  not  to  be  pressed.  James 
and  the  elders  did  not  include  themselves  in  the  number  of  those  who 
were  zealous  for  the  Law,  and  they  doubtless  represented  many  more. 
Yet  the  conservative  element  was  very  strong. 

2 1 .  Have  been  informed.  The  Greek  verb  suggests  careful  system- 
atic instruction,  and  thus  it  would  appear  that  certain  persons  had 
made  it  their  business  to  create  an  anti-Pauline  sentiment  in  the  Jeru- 
salem church.    Thou  teachest  all  the  Jews  ...  to  forsake  Moses. 


ACTS 

to  circumcise  their  children,  neither  to  walk  after  the 

22.  customs.     What  is  it  therefore?    °they  will  certainly 

23.  hear  that  thou  art  come.  Do  therefore  this  that  we  say 
to  thee  :  °We  have  four  men  which  have  a  vow  on  them ; 

24.  these  take,  and  °purify  thyself  with  them,  and  °be  at 
charges  for  them,  that  they  may  shave  their  heads  : 
and  all  shall  know  that  there  is  no  truth  in  the  things 
whereof  they  have  been  informed  concerning  thee;  but 
that  thou  thyself  also  walkest  orderly,  °keeping  the  law. 

25.  °But  as  touching  the  Gentiles  which  have  believed, 

This  was  a  grave  perversion  of  the  truth,  though  not  a  falsehood  with 
absolutely  no  foundation.  What  Paul  taught,  as  we  learn  from  his 
letters,  was  positive,  not  negative.  He  taught  that  salvation  was  by 
Christ  alone,  and  hence  that  circumcision  and  other  rites  of  the  law 
were  not  necessary.  But  he  nowhere  objected  to  the  observance  of 
circumcision  by  Jewish  believers  if  it  was  looked  upon  in  a  proper 
light.  He  himself  circumcised  Timothy  (16:3);  he  fulfilled  a 
Nazirite  vow  (18  :  18);  to  the  Jews  he  became  as  a  Jew  (i  Cor.  9  :  20). 

22.  They  will  certainly  hear.  That  is,  the  '  many  thousands ' 
who  were  zealous  for  the  law. 

23.  We  have  four  men.  Evidently  these  men  belonged  to  the 
church.  It  would  appear,  therefore,  that  James  and  the  elders  were 
not  necessarily  opposed  to  the  observance  of  Jewish  rites,  though  they 
separated  themselves  from  those  who  were  '  zealous  for  the  law.' 

24.  Purify  thyself  with  them.  That  is,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  Paul  became  for  the  time  a  Nazirite.  Comp.  18 :  18. 
Be  at  charges  for  them.  If  the  statute  of  Num.  6  :  13-15  was 
followed,  the  cost  of  the  needful  offerings  for  five  persons  amounted 
to  a  considerable  sum.  Keeping  the  law.  It  seems  not  improbable 
that  the  elders  credited  Paul  with  somewhat  more  regard  for  the  law 
than  he  actually  showed.  But  be  that  as  it  may,  he  could  assent  to 
their  proposition  with  a  good  conscience.  It  did  not  endanger  his 
fundamental  principle  that  salvation  is  by  Christ  alone,  without  works 
of  the  law.  His  observance  of  the  rite  would  indeed  indicate  that  the 
report  concerning  him  was  false,  but  not  at  all  that  he  considered 
such  rites  as  necessary  to  salvation. 

25.  But  as  touching  the  Gentiles,  etc.  This  verse  contrasts  the 
attitude  of  Gentile  converts  toward  the  law  with  what  might  be  ex- 
pected of  a  Jewish  believer  like  Paul.  It  contains  the  admission  that 
the  Gentiles  are  not  bound  to  keep  the  law.  Thus  this  verse  shows 
that  the  elders  and  those  whom  they  represented  were  not  *  zealous 


ACTS 

we  wrote,  giving  judgement  that  they  should  keep 
themselves  from  things  sacrificed  to  idols,  and  from 
blood,  and  from  what  is  strangled,   and  from  forni- 

26.  cation.  °Then  Paul  took  the  men,  and  the  next  day- 
purifying  himself  with  them  °went  into  the  temple, 
declaring  the  fulfilment  of  the  days  of  purification, 
until  the  offering  was  offered  for  every  one  of  them. 

27.  And  when  °the  seven  days  were  almost  completed, 
°the  Jews  from  Asia,  when  they  saw  him  in  the  temple, 
stirred  up  all  the  multitude,  and  laid  hands  on  him, 

28.  crying  out.  Men  of  Israel,  help  :  This  is  the  man,  that 
°teacheth  all  men  everywhere  against  the  people,  and 
the  law,  and  this  place  :    and  moreover  he  °brought 

for  the  law,'  as  were  those  for  whose  sake  Paul  was  asked  to  under- 
take the  performance  of  a  Levitical  ceremony. 

26.  Then  Paul  took  the  men.  His  act  here  was  quite  in  harmony 
with  his  principle  to  become  as  a  Jew  to  the  Jews  (i  Cor.  9  :  20). 
Went  into  the  temple.  The  Greek  verb  is  in  the  imperfect,  and  we 
may  accordingly  understand  that  Paul  went  into  the  temple  from  day 
to  day,  making  the  necessary  announcement  to  the  priests,  and  that 
he  did  this  until  the  offering  had  been  made  for  each  of  the  company. 

27.  The  seven  days.  That  is,  the  seven  days  intervening  between 
the  first  announcement  to  the  priests  and  the  completion  of  the  cere- 
mony. This  appears  to  be  the  natural  sense  of  the  passage,  though 
the  Nazirite  statute  does  not  specify  such  a  period.  The  Jews  from 
Asia.  Possibly  these  were  some  of  the  persons  who  had  been  active 
in  Jerusalem  in  creating  a  hostile  feeling  against  Paul.  It  is  to  be 
noticed  that  the  assault  on  Paul  originated  with  unbelieving  Jews 
from  Asia,  not  with  Christian  Jews  of  Jerusalem,  though  these  also 
were  hostile  toward  him. 

28.  Teacheth  all  men  .  .  .  against  the  people.  This  was  a  still 
more  extravagant  accusation  than  that  of  vs.  21.  The  charge  was 
certainly  false.  Paul's  presence  in  Jerusalem  at  this  time,  to  bring 
a  contribution  from  the  Gentile  churches  to  the  Jewish  believers, 
was  a  proof  of  its  groundlessness.  Brought  Greeks  also  into  the 
temple.  This  was  a  charge  well  calculated  to  excite  a  mob,  but 
absurd,  nevertheless.  It  was  an  offence  punishable  with  death  for  a 
Gentile  to  enter  into  the  court  of  Israel  {Jew.  War,  V,  5.  2  ;  VI,  2.  4), 
and  it  would  have  been  an  act  of  extreme  foolhardiness  for  Paul  to 
have  taken  a  Gentile  friend  with  him  into  the  temple. 

203 


ACTS 

Greeks  also  into  the  temple,   and  hath  defiled  this 

29.  holy  place.  For  they  had  before  seen  with  him  in  the 
city  °Trophimus  the  Ephesian,  whom  they  supposed 

30.  that  Paul  had  brought  into  the  temple.  And  °all  the 
city  was  moved,  and  the  people  ran  together :  and 
°they  laid  hold  on  Paul,  and  dragged  him  out  of  the 

31.  temple  :  and  straightway  the  doors  were  shut.  And  as 
they  were  °seeking  to  kill  him,  ^tidings  came  up  to  the 
°chief  captain  of  the  band,  that  all  Jerusalem  was  in 

32.  confusion.  And  °forthwith  he  took  soldiers  and  cen- 
turions, and  °ran  down  upon  them  :  and  they,  when 
they  saw  the  chief  captain  and  the  soldiers,  left  off 

33.  beating  Paul.  Then  the  chief  captain  came  near,  and 
laid  hold  on  him,  and  commanded  him  to  be  °bound 


29.  This  verse  offers  an  explanation  of  the  charge  that  Paul  had 
taken  Greeks  into  the  temple.  This  may  have  come  from  Paul  him- 
self, or  it  may  have  been  Luke's  thought.  The  writer  regarded  it  as 
the  only  basis  for  the  charge.  Trophimus.  In  20  :  4  he  is  characterized 
simply  as  '  of  Asia,'  here  as  an  Ephesian. 

30.  All  the  city  was  moved.  The  attachment  of  the  Jerusalemites 
to  the  temple  was  most  intense,  and  any  insult  shown  it  easily  stirred 
up  a  fanatical  passion  of  resistance.  They  laid  hold  on  Paul.  The 
Jews  of  Asia  had  already  laid  hold  on  him  (vs.  27).  The  present 
verse  suggests  that  he  was  not  at  once  ejected  from  the  temple,  but 
only  as  a  crowd  gathered. 

31.  Seeking  to  kill  him.  As  in  the  case  of  Stephen,  without  the 
forms  of  law.  Tidings  came  up.  That  is,  into  the  tower  of  Antonia, 
which  dominated  the  temple  from  the  northwest  side.  Chief 
captain.  In  analogy  with  the  word  *  centurion,'  the  R.V.m.  tran- 
scription *  chiliarch '  might  well  be  adopted.     In  any  case,  the  word 

*  chief  *  should  be  dropped,  for  there  was  only  one  captain  for  a 

*  band,*  or  cohort. 

32.  Forthwith.  Experience  had  taught  the  Roman  guard  in 
Jerusalem  the  necessity  of  the  promptest  action.  In  this  case  their 
promptness  doubtless  saved  Paul's  life.  Ran  down  upon  them. 
The  tower  was  in  direct  connection  with  the  court  of  the  temple,  and 
it  required  not  more  than  two  or  three  minutes  to  reach  any  part  of 
the  temple  area. 

;^^.   Bound  with  two  chains.    This  unusual  precaution  seems  to 
204 


ACTS 

with  two  chains;   and  inquired  who  he  was,  and  what 

34.  he  had  done.  And  °some  shouted  one  thing,  some 
another,  among  the  crowd  :  and  when  he  could  not 
know  the  certainty  for  the  uproar,  he  commanded  him 

35.  to  be  brought  into  the  castle.  And  when  he  came 
upon  the  stairs,  so  it  was,  that  he  was  borne  of  the 

36.  soldiers  °for  the  violence  of  the  crowd;  for  the  multitude 
of  the  people  followed  after,  crying  out.  Away  with  him. 

37.  And  as  Paul  was  about  to  be  brought  into  the  castle, 
he  saith  unto  the  chief  captain,  °May  I  say  something 
unto  thee?    And  he  said.   Dost  thou  know  Greek? 

38.  Art  thou  not  then  °the  Egyptian,  which  before  these 
days  stirred  up  to  sedition  and  led  out  into  the  wilder- 

39.  ness  °the  four  thousand  men  of  the  Assassins?    But 

have  been  due  to  the  idea  of  the  captain  that  Paul  might  be  the  Egyp- 
tian insurrectionist,  whose  uprising  had  recently  caused  a  good  deal 
of  bloodshed. 

34.  Some  shouted  one  thing,  some  another.  The  diversity  of  an- 
swers to  the  captain's  questions  may  indicate  that  there  were  friends 
of  Paul  present  who  dared  to  raise  their  voices  in  his  behalf. 

35.  For  the  violence  of  the  crowd.  It  appears  that  the  passion  of 
the  crowd  was  heightened  by  the  retreat  of  the  soldiers  with  their 
prisoner,  and  with  the  increase  of  passion  came  an  increase  of  reck- 
lessness. They  so  pressed  and  jostled  the  soldiers  that  these,  in  order 
not  to  lose  their  prisoner,  were  obliged  to  carry  him. 

37.  May  I  say  something  unto  thee?  Paul  was  calm  and,  as  the 
following  verses  show,  as  quick  as  ever  to  take  advantage  of  the  op- 
portunity which  his  circumstances  presented. 

38.  The  Egyptian.  According  to  Josephus  (Ant.  XX,  8.  6  ;  Jew. 
War,  II,  13.  5)  this  man  claimed  to  be  a  prophet  and  deliverer  en- 
dowed with  supernatural  power.  From  the  captain's  question  to  Paul, 
*  Dost  thou  know  Greek  ?  '  it  would  appear  that  the  Egyptian  had  not 
spoken  Greek.  The  four  thousand  men  of  the  Assassins.  The  cap- 
tain speaks  as  though  this  number  was  well  known.  Josephus  says 
that  the  false  prophet  assembled  thirty  thousand  men  on  the  Mount  of 
Olives.  That  may,  however,  have  been  a  different  move  from  this 
spoken  of  in  Acts,  where  a  certain  number  are  led  forth  into  the 
wilderness.  The  '  Assassins '  were  a  radical  revolutionary  secret 
society,  which  arose  in  Jerusalem  in  the  time  of  Felix.    They  were 

205 


40  ACTS 

Paul  said,  °I  am  a  Jew,  of  Tarsus  in  Cilicia,  °a  citizen 
of  no  mean  city  :  and  I  beseech  thee,  give  me  leave  to 
40.  speak  unto  the  people.  And  °when  he  had  given  him 
leave,  Paul,  °standing  on  the  stairs,  °beckoned  with  the 
hand  unto  the  people;  and  when  there  was  made  a 
great  silence,  he  spake  unto  them  in  °the  Hebrew 
language,  saying, 

Address  of  Paid  from  the  castle  stairs,  22:1-21 

22.       Brethren  and  fathers,  hear  ye  the  ^defence  which 
I  now  make  unto  you. 

2.  And  °when  they  heard  that  he  spake  unto  them  in 
the  Hebrew  language,  they  were  the  more  quiet :  and 
he  saith, 

3.  I  am  a  Jew,  °bom  in  Tarsus  of  Cilicia,  but  brought  up 

called  'Sicarians'  from  the  practice  of  carrying  concealed  a  short 
sword  which  was  known  by  the  Latin  name  sica. 

39.  I  am  a  Jew.  Not  the  Egyptian,  A  citizen  of  no  mean  city. 
Tarsus  ranked  with  Athens  and  Alexandria  as  an  educational  centre. 
It  was  a  free  city,  and  Paul  was  proud  of  being  a  Tarsian  citizen. 

40.  When  he  had  given  him  leave.  His  listening  to  Paul's  re- 
quest seems  to  indicate  that  he  was  favorably  impressed  by  Paul's 
words  and  appearance.  He  can  hardly  have  believed  him  a  dangerous 
malefactor.  Standing  on  the  stairs.  No  longer  borne  by  the  soldiers. 
The  elevation  of  the  steps  would  naturally  secure  Paul  from  the  reach 
of  the  mob.  Beckoned  with  the  hand.  On  which  there  was  probably 
a  chain  (vs.  2)2>)'  The  Hebrew  language.  That  is,  the  Aramaic 
dialect, 

1.  Defence,  As  far  as  he  went  —  for  he  was  not  allowed  to  finish 
his  speech  (vs.  22)  —  Paul  justified  his  Christian  position,  and  in  part 
at  least  his  mission  to  the  Gentiles, 

2.  When  they  heard  .  .  .  the  Hebrew  language.  The  appar- 
ent surprise  at  Paul's  speaking  in  Aramaic  indicates  that  what  they 
had  heard  from  him  before  was  not  in  Aramaic,  Comp.  vs.  37, 
Greek  was  the  common  language  of  the  eastern  part  of  the  Roman 
Empire. 

3.  Bom  in  Tarsus.  This  statement,  taken  with  the  next  *  brought 
up  in  this  city,'  suggests  that  Paul  was  sent  to  Jerusalem  while  yet  a 

206 


ACTS  22  : 9 

in  this  city,  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel,  instructed  accord- 
ing to  the  °strict  manner  of  the  law  of  our  fathers,  being 

4.  zealous  for  God,  even  as  ye  all  are  this  day  :  and 
°I    persecuted    this    Way    unto    death,    binding   and 

5.  delivering  into  prisons  both  men  and  women.  As  also 
°the  high  priest  doth  bear  me  witness,  and  all  the 
°estate  of  the  elders  :  from  whom  also  I  received  letters 
unto  the  brethren,  and  journeyed  to  Damascus,  to 
bring  them  also  which  were  there  unto  Jerusalem  in 

6.  bonds,  for  to  be  punished.  And  it  came  to  pass,  that, 
as  I  made  my  journey,  and  drew  nigh  unto  Damascus, 
°about  noon,  suddenly  there  shone  from  heaven  °a 

7.  great  light  round  about  me.  And  I  fell  unto  the 
ground,  and  heard  a  voice  saying  unto  me,  Saul,  Saul, 

8.  why  persecutest  thou  me?  And  I  answered.  Who 
art  thou.  Lord?    And  he  said  unto  me,  I  am  Jesus 

9.  °of  Nazareth,  whom  thou  persecutest.      And  they  that 

boy  (comp.  26  :  4),  but  his  age  cannot  be  exactly  determined.  On 
Gamaliel  see  note  on  5  :  34.  Strict  manner  of  the  law  of  our  fathers. 
Comp.  Phil.  3  :  5-6;  Gal.  i  :  13-14.  The  law  of  the  fathers  was 
ostensibly  the  Mosaic  law,  but  more  truly  it  was  the  oral  law  which 
had  grown  up  in  the  course  of  centuries. 

4.  I  persecuted  this  Way.  Comp.  8:3;  9:1.  The  letters  of  Paul 
are  explicit  on  this  point.     See  i  Cor.  15:9;  Gal.  i  :  13;   Phil.  3  :  16. 

5.  The  high  priest  doth  bear  me  witness.  This  seems  to  imply 
that  Caiaphas,  who  was  high  priest  when  Paul  was  a  persecutor 
(4:6;  9:2),  was  still  alive.  Estate  of  the  elders.  This  term  —  pe- 
culiar to  Luke's  writings  —  is  perhaps  no  more  than  an  equivalent 
of  the  more  common  word  '  sanhedrin.' 

6.  About  noon.  This  detail  is  not  in  Luke's  account,  chapter  9. 
It  is  such  as  might  be  expected  from  one  who  went  through  the  ex- 
periences described.  A  great  light.  This  touch,  that  it  was  a  great 
light  which  shone  around  him,  though  really  implied  in  Luke's  nar- 
rative, is  not  expressed  there.  It  is  another  detail  suitable  to  the  lips 
of  an  eye-witness. 

7.  This  verse  agrees  closely  with  the  corresponding  passage  in 
Luke's  account  (9:4).  Here,  as  there,  Paul  heard  the  heavenly  voice 
after  he  had  fallen  to  the  earth. 

207 


22: 10  ACTS 

were  with  me  beheld  indeed  the  light,  but  they  heard 

10.  not  the  voice  of  him  that  spake  to  me.  And  I  said, 
°What  shall  I  do,  Lord  ?  And  the  Lord  said  unto  me, 
Arise,  and  go  into  ^Damascus;  and  there  it  shall  be 
told  thee  of  all  things  which  are  appointed  for  thee  to 

11.  do.  And  when  I  could  not  see  °for  the  glory  of  that 
light,  being  led  by  the  hand  of  them  that  were  with 

12.  me,  I  came  into  Damascus.    And  one  ^Ananias,  a 

8.  Of  Nazareth.  A  third  detail  not  found  in  Luke's  account  of  the 
event.  This  descriptive  title  of  Jesus,  as  it  was  common  in  the  earliest 
days  of  Christianity  {e.g.,  2  :  22;  3:6;  4  :  10),  may  well  have  been 
used  by  Paul.     Comp,  26  :  9. 

9.  This  verse,  or  the  substance  of  it,  stands,  in  Luke's  account, 
after  the  direction  to  go  into  Damascus,  that  is,  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
episode,  and  not,  as  here,  in  its  midst.  But  this  difference  is  without 
significance.  Paul  must  have  learned,  not  at  the  time  but  afterwards, 
what  his  companions  saw  and  heard  at  the  time  he  lay  prostrate 
and  blind.  The  verse  has  other  divergences  from  the  corresponding 
passage  in  Luke's  narrative.  Thus  it  is  said  that  the  men  with  him 
saw  the  light.  This,  of  course,  implies  that  it  was  something  objective. 
It  is  also  said  that  they  heard  not  the  voice  of  him  who  spake  to  Paul. 
Luke  says  they  did  hear  the  voice.  There  are  two  ways  of  regarding 
this  difference.  It  may  be  a  simple  discrepancy,  and  if  so  regarded, 
we  should  follow  the  narrative  which  is  attributed  to  Paul  himself, 
which  bears  various  traces  of  having  come  from  an  eye-witness.  Or 
it  may  be  interpreted  in  the  light  of  Jn.  9  :  28-29.  In  that  case,  we 
are  to  suppose  that  his  companions  heard  indeed  a  sound,  but  not,  as 
Paul,  a  sound  with  a  definite  meaning. 

10.  What  shall  I  do.  Lord  ?  This  is  a  fourth  detail  not  found  in 
Luke's  narrative.  It  makes  more  clear  what  is  there  implied,  viz., 
Paul's  readiness  to  follow  the  heavenly  voice.  Damascus.  In  9  :  6 
we  have  '  the  city  '  without  naming  it.  This  appears  to  be  a  wholly 
unimportant  difference  for  all  who  take  a  spiritual  view  of  the  incident. 
There  is  a  real  conflict  only  when  the  voice  is  thought  of  as  coming  to 
Paul's  ear  rather  than  to  his  spirit. 

11.  For  the  glory  of  that  light.  Here  it  is  explicitly  declared, 
what  Luke's  narrative  only  implies,  that  Paul's  blindness  was  due  to 
the  flash  of  light.  We  may  regard  this  as  another,  a  fifth,  detail  which 
suits  the  view  that  the  present  narrative  is  indeed  directly  from  Paul. 

12.  Ananias.  What  Paul  says  of  Ananias,  to  wit,  that  he  was  a 
devout  man  according  to  the  law  and  esteemed  by  all  the  Jews  of 
Damascus,  does  not  exclude  what  Luke  says,  viz.,  that  he  was  a  dis- 

208 


ACTS 

devout  man  according  to  the  law,  well  reported  of  by 

13.  all  the  Jews  that  dwelt  there,  came  unto  me,  and 
standing  by  me  said  unto  me,  Brother  Saul,  ^receive 
thy  sight.     And  in  that  very  hour  I  looked  up  on  him. 

14.  And  he  said.  The  God  of  our  fathers  hath  appointed 
thee  to  know  his  will,  and  to  see  the  Righteous  One, 

15.  and  to  hear  a  voice  from  his  mouth.  For  thou  shalt 
be  a  ^witness  for  him  unto  all  men  °of  what  thou  hast 

16.  seen  and  heard.  And  now  why  tarriest  thou?  arise, 
and  be  baptized,  and  wash  away  thy  sins,  calling  on  his 

17.  name.  And  it  came  to  pass,  that,  when  I  had  returned 
to  Jerusalem,  and  while  I  prayed  in  the  temple,  °I  fell 


ciple.  What  Paul  said  of  him  was  suitable  for  his  defence  before  Jews. 
It  is  significant  that  he  omits  all  the  circumstances  which  led  Ananias 
to  come  to  him,  which  in  Luke  are  so  elaborately  set  forth. 

13.  The  essential  facts  of  this  verse  are  the  same  that  are  given 
by  Luke  (9  :  17-18),  but  they  are  presented  more  briefly.  Receive 
thy  sight.  Or,  as  the  verb  must  be  rendered  in  the  next  sentence, 
*  look  up.' 

14.  The  three  statements  of  this  verse  were  well  suited  to  Paul's 
defence  before  Jews.  His  new  experience  was  traced  back  to  the 
fathers*  God  (see  Gal,  1  :  15),  and  the  name  of  Jesus  was  not  men- 
tioned. Comp.  9:17.  He  was,  however,  referred  to  as  '  the  righteous 
one,'  a  title  which  should  commend  him  to  the  people  of  the  law, 
for  it  implies  that  he  fulfilled  the  law  perfectly. 

15.  Witness  for  him  unto  all  men.  This  is  involved  in  what  the 
Lord  said  to  Ananias  according  to  the  narrative  of  Luke  (9  :  15). 
Of  what  thou  hast  seen  and  heard.  In  other  words,  he  was  to  be  a 
witness  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  hence  of  his  Messiahship.  This 
statement  goes  farther  than  anything  in  Luke's  record  of  the  inter- 
view with  Ananias  or  of  his  vision. 

16.  The  narrative  of  Paul  at  this  point  is  more  graphic  than  Luke's, 
yet  contains  nothing  which  is  at  variance  with  that.  It  was  natural 
that  Ananias  should  summon  him  to  be  baptized.  It  is  noticeable 
that  the  only  other  NT.  passage  in  which  the  verb  *  to  wash  away  ' 
is  used  occurs  in  a  letter  of  Paul  (i  Cor.  6  :  11). 

17.  Paul  passes  over  the  sojourn  in  Arabia  and  the  work  in 
Damascus,  presumably  because  his  defence  before  the  Jews  did  not 
call  for  an  enumeration  of  these  facts.  I  fell  into  a  trance.  The 
circumstances  recorded  in  9  :  28-30  give  an  outside  view  of  Paul's 

P  209 


.  ACTS 

1 8.  into  a  trance,  and  °saw  him  saying  unto  me,  Make 
haste,  and  °get  thee  quickly  out  of  Jerusalem  :  because 
they  will  not  receive  of  thee  testimony  concerning  me. 

19.  And  I  said,  °Lord,  they  themselves  know  that  I  im- 
prisoned and  beat  in  every  synagogue  them  that  believed 

20.  on  thee  :  and  when  the  blood  of  Stephen  thy  witness 
was  shed,  I  also  was  standing  by,  and  consenting,  and 

21.  keeping  the  garments  of  them  that  slew  him.  And  he 
said  unto  me,  ^Depart:  for  I  will  send  thee  forth 
°far  hence  unto  the  Gentiles. 

Paul  in  the  Antonia  barracks^  22  :  22-29 

22.  And  they  gave  him  audience  °unto  this  word;  and 
they  lifted  up  their  voice,  and  said,  Away  with  such  a 

visit  in  Jerusalem  and  his  departure  thence;  here,  on  the  contrary, 
we  have  an  inside  view.  This  is  not  at  variance  with  the  earlier 
narrative,  but  is  such  a  supplement  as  might  be  expected  from  Paul. 
We  may  suppose  that  Luke,  when  writing  chapter  9,  made  no  allusion 
to  this  trance  for  the  reason  that  Paul  had  not  spoken  of  it  until  he 
made  his  defence. 

18.  Saw  him.  That  is,  as  appears  from  what  follows,  Jesus.  Paul 
may  have  avoided  the  name  out  of  regard  for  his  hearers.  Get  thee 
quickly  out  of  Jerusalem.  This  command  implies  that  Paul  had 
already  attempted  to  bring  his  message  to  the  Jews  of  the  capital. 
The  urgency  of  the  words  suggests  that  it  was  dangerous  for  him  to 
remain.  Thus  this  narrative  really  implies  the  facts  which  Luke 
gives  us  in  chapter  9. 

19-20.  Lord,  they  themselves  know,  etc.  We  can  see  in  these 
words  of  remonstrance  how  unreasonable  it  seemed  to  Paul  that  his 
countrymen  should  not  consider  the  extraordinary  circumstances 
of  his  call  to  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel.  He  felt  that  his  former 
well-known  hostility  toward  Christianity,  conspicuously  illustrated  in 
his  part  in  the  death  of  Stephen,  ought  to  be  a  proof  that  his  present 
course  rested  on  a  divine  revelation.  All  this  was  especially  perti- 
nent to  the  present  circumstances,  for  the  very  Jews  to  whom  he  was 
speaking  were  refusing  his  testimony  just  as  the  Hellenists  had  done 
years  before. 

21.  Depart.  A  repetition  of  the  command  of  vs.  18.  Far  hence 
tinto  the  Gentiles.     We  learn  from  Gal.  i :  16  that  Paul  at  his  con- 


ACTS  22 :  28 

fellow  from  the  earth:   for  it  is  not  fit  that  he  should 

23.  live.     And  as  they  cried  out,  and  °threw  off  their  gar- 

24.  ments,  and  °cast  dust  into  the  air,  the  chief  captain 
commanded  him  to  be  brought  into  the  castle,  bidding 
that  he  should  be  examined  by  scourging,  °that  he 
might  know  for  what  cause  they  so  shouted  against  him. 

25.  And  °when  they  had  tied  him  up  with  the  thongs,  Paul 
said  unto  the  centurion  that  stood  by,  °Is  it  lawful  for 
you  to  scourge  a  man  that  is  a  Roman,  and  uncon- 

26.  demned?  And  when  the  centurion  heard  it,  he  went 
to  the  chief  captain,  and  told  him,  saying.  What  art 

27.  thou  about  to  do?  for  this  man  is  a  Roman.  And  the 
chief  captain  came,  and  said  unto  him.  Tell  me,  art  thou 

28.  a  Roman?  And  he  said,  Yea.  And  the  chief  captain 
answered,  °With  a  great  sum  obtained  I  this  citizen- 
version  felt  that  he  was  called  of  God  to  the  work  among  the  Gentiles. 
Here  in  Jerusalem,  after  a  short  period  of  unsuccessful  labor  among 
his  countrymen,  this  consciousness  of  a  divine  call  to  the  Gentiles 
seems  to  have  been,  as  it  were,  realized  anew. 

22.  Unto  this  word.  That  is,  the  word  '  Gentiles.'  This  was  the 
stone  of  stumbling.  The  thought  that  the  Messiah  had  really  come 
and  was  setting  up  his  kingdom  among  the  uncircumcised  Gentiles, 
was  intolerable. 

23.  Threw  off  their  garments.  To  the  end  that  they  might  exe- 
cute their  wrath  on  Paul,  as  once  men  like  them  had  cast  down  their 
garments  at  his  feet  when  about  to  stone  Stephen  (7  :  58).  Cast 
dust  into  the  air.    To  give  vent  to  their  fury.     See  2  Sam.  16  :  13. 

24.  That  he  might  know,  etc.  It  is  not  likely  that  the  Roman 
captain  understood  Aramaic,  or  that  any  one  was  at  hand  to  inter- 
pret Paul's  speech  to  him.  Had  he  understood  it,  he  could  hardly 
have  failed  to  see  that  the  hostility  toward  Paul  was  not  because  of 
any  wickedness  he  had  done,  but  was  a  matter  of  religious  prejudice. 

25.  When  they  had  tied  him  up.  Or,  following  the  Greek  more 
closely,  *  when  they  had  stretched  him  forth,'  the  reference  being 
to  the  procumbent  posture  of  the  body  in  preparation  for  the  scourging. 
The  marginal  reading  'for  the  thongs  '  seems  preferable  to  '  with  the 
thongs  '  because  more  significant.  Is  it  lawful  ?  It  was  not  lawful  to 
scourge  a  Roman  citizen  uncondemned,  and  Paul  no  doubt  knew 
this  well. 

311 


22  :  29  ACTS 

29.  ship.  And  Paul  said,  But  °I  am  a  Roman  born.  They 
then  which  were  about  to  examine  him  straightway- 
departed  from  him  :  and  the  chief  captain  also  was 
afraid,  °when  he  knew  that  he  was  a  Roman,  and  °be- 
cause  he  had  bound  him. 

Paul  before  the  sanhedrin,  22  :  30-23  :  11 

30.  But  °on  the  morrow,  desiring  to  know  the  certainty, 
wherefore  he  was  accused  of  the  Jews,  he  °loosed  him, 
and  commanded  the  chief  priests  and  all  the  council 
to  come  together,  and  brought  Paul  down,  and  set  him 
before  them. 

23.  And  Paul  looking  °stedfastly  on  the  council,  said, 
^Brethren,  I  have  lived  before  God  °in  all  good  con- 

28.  With  a  great  sum  obtained  I  this  citizenship.  This  remark 
was  perhaps  called  out  by  the  appearance  of  Paul,  which  must  have 
belied  his  words.  I  am  a  Roman  born.  How  far  back  Paul's  family 
had  possessed  Roman  citizenship,  we  do  not  know,  nor  how  they  had 
acquired  it. 

29.  When  he  knew  that  he  was  a  Roman.  Paul's  assertion  was 
taken  as  proof  of  the  fact.  To  claim  Roman  citizenship  falsely 
was  to  expose  one's  self  to  death.  Because  he  had  bound  him.  The 
natural  reference  of  these  words  is  to  vs.  25,  not  to  21  :  33,  for  the 
binding  of  Paul  in  preparation  for  scourging  was  the  more  palpable 
violation  of  Roman  law. 

30.  On  the  morrow.  In  the  meantime  Paul  had  doubtless  been 
kept  in  the  Antonia  barracks.  Comp.  23  :  16.  Loosed  him.  That 
is,  either  from  the  two  chains  which  were  put  on  him  in  the  court  of 
the  temple  when  he  was  seized  (21  :  23) >  or  from  whatever  form  of 
corporal  imprisonment  may  have  been  substituted  for  these  chains 
on  the  discovery  that  he  was  a  Roman. 

I.  Stedfastly.  A  steady,  self-possessed  looking  around  upon 
the  sanhedrin  was  in  accord  with  the  words  that  immediately  follow. 
It  was  becoming  in  a  man  who  had  a  good  conscience  and  who  was 
suffering  wrongfully.  Brethren.  The  more  formal  tone  of  this 
address  in  comparison  with  that  of  22  :  i  may  perhaps  have  been 
due  to  the  fact  that,  while  the  speech  of  the  preceding  day  had  been  to 
a  popular  audience  and  was  at  the  prompting  of  his  own  heart,  this 
speech  was  to  the  sanhedrin,  to  the  men  least  likely  to  have  any  re- 


ACTS  23  : 6 

2.  science  until  this  day.  And  the  high  priest  ^Ananias 
commanded  them  that  stood  by  him  to  smite  him  on 

3.  the  mouth.  Then  said  Paul  unto  him,  God  shall 
smite  thee,  °thou  whited  wall :  and  sittest  thou  to  judge 
me  according  to  the  law,  and  commandest  me  to  be 

4.  smitten  contrary  to  the  law?    And  they  that  stood  by 

5.  said,  Revilest  thou  God's  high  priest?  And  Paul  said, 
°I  wist  not,  brethren,  that  he  was  high  priest :  for  it  is 
written.  Thou  shalt  not  speak  evil  of  a  ruler  of  thy 

6.  people.  But  °when  Paul  perceived  that  the  one  part 
were  Sadducees,  and  the  other  Pharisees,  he  cried  out 
in  the  council,  Brethren,  °l  am  a  Pharisee,  a  son  of 

gard  for  what  Paul  might  say,  and,  moreover,  it  was,  as  it  were,  forced 
upon  him.  In  all  good  conscience.  As  it  was  Paul's  Christian  con- 
fession and  Christian  work  that  caused  hostility  toward  him,  these 
words  of  defence  are  naturally  to  be  referred  to  the  time  since  his  con- 
version. 

2.  Ananias.  This  Ananias,  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  father- 
in-law  of  Caiaphas,  was  appointed  high  priest  about  48  a,d.,  and 
perished  miserably  in  the  Jewish  War, 

3.  Thou  whited  wall.  A  figurative  designation  of  a  hypocrite. 
Comp.  Matt.  23  :  27.  It  is  explained  and  justified  by  the  words  that 
follow.  His  act  in  commanding  Paul  to  be  smitten  was  in  conflict 
with  his  profession. 

5.  I  wist  not.  However  difficult  it  may  be  to  explain  Paul's 
ignorance  that  the  one  who  had  commanded  him  to  be  smitten  on  the 
mouth  was  the  high  priest,  we  cannot  set  aside  the  plain  meaning 
of  the  words.  He  was  ignorant.  Imperfect  eyesight  has  been  sup- 
posed to  account  for  this  ignorance,  or  the  language  has  been  regarded 
as  ironical.  Neither  explanation  is  wholly  satisfactory.  Still  less 
satisfactory  is  it  to  attribute  the  statement  of  ignorance  to  the  writer 
and  not  to  Paul.  Paul  in  saying  that  he  did  not  know  that  it  was  the 
high  priest  admitted  that  his  words  were  unbecoming,  not  that  they 
were  untrue. 

6.  When  Paul  perceived.  We  are  not  told  how  he  became  aware 
that  both  Sadducees  and  Pharisees  were  present.  The  obscurity 
is  very  likely  due  to  the  brevity  of  the  report  of  the  proceedings. 
I  am  a  Pharisee.  See  Phil.  3:5.  As  over  against  the  Sadducees. 
Paul  did  not  cease  to  be  a  Pharisee  on  becoming  a  Christian.  The 
statement  was  natural  in  the  circumstances,  but  might  easily  be  mis- 


23  : 7  ACTS 

Pharisees  :  °touching  the  hope  and  resurrection  of  the 

7.  dead  I  am  called  in  question.  And  when  he  had  so 
said,  °there  arose  a  dissension  between  the  Pharisees 

8.  and  Sadducees  :  and  the  assembly  was  divided.  For 
the  Sadducees  say  that  there  is  no  resurrection,  neither 
angel,   nor   spirit :    but   the   Pharisees   confess   both. 

9.  And  there  arose  a  great  clamour  :  and  °some  of  the 
scribes  of  the  Pharisees'  part  stood  up,  and  strove, 
saying,  We  find  no  evil  in  this  man  :    and  °what  if 

10.   a  spirit  hath  spoken  to  him,  or  an  angel?    And  when 

understood.  To  the  statement  that  he  was  a  Pharisee  he  added  the 
strengthening  remark  that  he  was  '  a  son  of  Pharisees,'  which  impHes 
that  at  least  his  father  and  grandfather  were  Pharisees.  Touching 
the  hope  and  resurrection  of  the  dead  I  am  called  in  question.  This 
Statement  is  difficult.  Plainly  his  belief  in  the  resurrection  was  not 
the  immediate  cause  of  his  arrest.  The  Jews  had  seized  him  as  an 
enemy  of  their  religion  and  a  defiler  of  the  temple.  Moreover,  the 
Pharisees  also,  as  well  as  Paul,  believed  in  the  resurrection,  and  yet 
the  Pharisees  were  undoubtedly  hostile  to  Paul.  It  is  possible  that  vs. 
9  throws  some  light  on  the  difficulty.  There  the  Pharisees  refer  to 
the  possibility  that  a  spirit  or  an  angel  may  have  spoken  to  Paul. 
Now  this  language  is  natural  if  they  referred  to  the  story  of  his  ex- 
perience on  the  way  to  Damascus.  But  if  Paul  had  the  Damascus 
experience  in  mind  in  vs.  6,  then  we  see  how  he  could  say  that  he 
was  brought  to  trial  because  of  the  hope  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
dead.  It  was  his  teaching  regarding  the  resurrection  and  consequent 
Messiahship  of  Jesus  that  made  the  Jews  hate  him. 

7.  There  arose  a  dissension.  This,  according  to  the  first  of  vs.  6, 
is  just  what  Paul  anticipated. 

8.  The  Sadducees  denied  the  reality  of  spirit,  and  accordingly 
denied  the  doctrine  of  resurrection.  In  so  far  they  were  materialists. 
The  Pharisees  believed  in  the  reality  of  spirit  and  in  a  resurrection. 
Luke's  statement  agrees  with  what  Josephus  says.  See  Ant.  XVIII, 
I.  4;  Jew.  War,  II,  8.  14. 

9.  Some  of  the  scribes  of  the  Pharisees'  part.  Not  all  scribes  were 
Pharisees  ;  some  were  Sadducees.  Scribes  were  the  professional  ex- 
positors of  the  Jewish  constitution,  that  is,  the  law  oral  and  the  written. 
What  if  a  spirit  hath  spoken  to  him  ?  This  is  apparently  an  allusion 
to  Paul's  story  of  his  conversion  which  they  had  heard  the  day  before. 
It  is  noticeable  how  they  explained  the  event.  Paul  said  that  it  was 
Jesus  who  spoke  to  him;  they  say  that  it  may  have  been  a  spirit  or  an 

214 


ACTS  23 

there  arose  a  great  dissension,  the  chief  captain,  fear- 
ing °lest  Paul  should  be  torn  in  pieces  by  them,  com- 
manded the  soldiers  to  go  down  and  take  him  by  force 
from  among  them,  and  bring  him  into  the  castle. 

11.  And  the  night  following  °the  Lord  stood  by  him,  and 
said,  °Be  of  good  cheer  :  for  as  thou  hast  °testified  con- 
cerning me  at  Jerusalem,  so  must  thou  °bear  witness 
also  at  Rome. 

Paul  sent  to  CcEsarea,  23  :  12-35 

12.  And  when  it  was  day,  °the  Jews  banded  together, 
and  °bound  themselves  under  a  curse,  saying  that  they 
would  neither  eat  nor  drink  till  they  had  killed  Paul. 

angel.    The  Greek  text  leaves  the  statement  of  the  scribes  unfinished. 
They  were  apparently  interrupted  by  the  clamor. 

10.  Lest  Paul  should  be  torn  in  pieces.  The  two  parties  may  have 
been  struggling  for  the  possession  of  Paul. 

11.  The  Lord  stood  by  him.  That  is,  as  the  following  words  show, 
the  Lord  Jesus.  We  are  to  think  of  a  vision.  Comp.  18  :  9;  22  :  17. 
Be  of  good  cheer.  The  substance  of  the  Lord's  communication  was 
in  line  with  Paul's  previous  purpose  to  visit  Rome  (19 :  21).  Now, 
for  the  first  time,  he  is  assured  that  he  shall  be  delivered  from  the 
disobedient  in  Jerusalem  (see  Rom.  15  :  31);  and  significantly  this 
assurance  comes  when  dangers  are  thickening  around  him.  The 
*  bonds  and  imprisonment '  which  he  had  long  felt  were  awaiting  him 
in  Jerusalem  (20  :  23)  had  indeed  come,  but  now  he  sees  beyond  them. 
Testified  concerning  me  at  Jerusalem.  That  is,  on  the  last  two 
days  in  particular,  when  he  had  told  his  story  before  a  crowd  in  the 
temple  court  and  had  spoken  before  the  sanhedrin.  Bear  witness 
also  at  Rome.  This  is  indefinite.  He  might  bear  witness  as  a 
prisoner  (see  27  :  24),  or  as  a  free  man.  The  one  point  which  was 
certain  was  that  he  should  bear  witness  in  Rome. 

12.  The  Jews.  Those  Jews  of  Asia  who  had  sought  to  kill  Paulin 
the  temple  court  (21  :  27)  were  doubtless  ready  for  a  conspiracy 
against  him  and  may  have  been  the  very  ones  who  formed  it.  Bound 
themselves  under  a  curse.  That  is,  they  invoked  divine  judgment 
upon  themselves  if  they  did  not  carry  out  the  purpose  which  they  had 
formed.  And  this  was  to  be  carried  out  at  once,  before  they  should 
taste  food  or  drink. 

215 


ACTS 

13.  And  they  were  more  than  forty  which  made  this  con- 

14.  spiracy.  And  they  came  °to  the  chief  priests  and  the 
elders,  and  said,  We  have  bound  ourselves  under  a 
great  curse,  to  taste  nothing  until  we  have  killed  Paul. 

15.  Now  therefore  °do  ye  with  the  council  ^signify  to  the 
chief  captain  that  he  bring  him  down  unto  you,  as 
though  ye  would  judge  of  his  case  more  exactly  :   and 

16.  we,  °or  ever  he  come  near,  are  ready  to  slay  him.  But 
Paul's  sister's  son  heard  of  their  lying  in  wait,  and  he 

17.  came  and  entered  into  the  castle,  and  told  Paul.  And 
Paul  called  unto  him  one  of  the  centurions,  and  said 
°Bring  this  young  man  unto  the  chief  captain :  for  he 

18.  hath  something  to  tell  him.  So  he  took  him,  and 
brought  him  to  the  chief  captain,  and  saith,  Paul  the 
prisoner  called   me  unto  him,  and  asked  me  to  bring 


13.  How  the  details  of  this  conspiracy  became  public  we  are  told 
in  vs.  16.  If  Paul's  nephew  knew  of  the  plot,  he  may  have  known  of 
the  number  of  men  involved  in  it,  also  of  their  proposal  to  the  chief 
priests  and  elders. 

14.  To  the  chief  priests  and  the  elders,  i.e.,  to  those  members  of 
the  sanhedrin  who  in  the  meeting  of  the  previous  day  had  taken  sides 
against  Paul. 

15.  Do  ye  with  the  council.  Those  to  whom  they  revealed  their 
plot  were  to  enlist  the  entire  sanhedrin,  and  this  appears  to  have  been 
done.  See  vs.  20.  Signify  to  the  captain.  They  could  request  but 
not  demand  that  Paul  be  brought  before  them.  Comp.  vs.  21. 
Or  ever  he  come  near.  That  is,  to  the  place  of  the  meeting  of  the 
sanhedrin.  The  plot  was  to  assassinate  Paul  between  Antonia  and 
the  council  chamber. 

16.  This  verse  raises  questions  that  cannot  be  answered,  as,  e.g., 
whether  Paul's  sister  was  living  in  Jerusalem,  whether  she  was  a  be- 
liever, what  this  son  was,  and  how  he  had  learned  of  the  conspiracy. 
It  certainly  affirms  nothing  that  is  incredible. 

17.  Bring  this  young  man  to  the  captain.  It  is  notable  that  Paul, 
though  assured  in  the  vision  (vs.  11)  that  he  should  reach  Rome, 
did  not  neglect  human  means  of  protection.  Comp.  27  :  23,  24,  31. 
From  the  circumstance  that  the  captain  took  the  '  young  man  '  by 
the  hand  (vs.  19)  we  infer  that  he  was  a  boy  rather  than  a  young  man. 

216 


ACTS 

this  young  man  unto  thee,  who  hath  something  to  say 

19.  to  thee.  And  the  chief  captain  took  him  by  the  hand, 
and  going  aside  asked  him  privately,  What  is  that 

20.  thou  hast  to  tell  me?  And  he  said,  °The  Jews  have 
agreed  to  ask  thee  to  bring  down  Paul  to-morrow  unto 
the  council,  °as  though  thou  wouldest  inquire  some- 

21.  what  more  exactly  concerning  him.  Do  not  thou 
therefore  yield  unto  them  :  for  there  He  in  wait  for 
him  of  them  more  than  forty  men,  which  have  bound 
themselves  under  a  curse,  neither  to  eat  nor  to  drink 
till  they  have  slain  him  :    and  now  are  they  ready, 

22.  ^looking  for  the  promise  from  thee.  So  the  chief  cap- 
tain let  the  young  man  go,  charging  him,  Tell  no  man 

23.  that  thou  hast  signified  these  things  to  me.  And  he 
called  unto  him  °two  of  the  centurions,  and  said,  Make 
ready  °two  hundred  soldiers  to  go  °as  far  as  Caesarea, 


20.  The  Jews.  That  is,  if  not  the  entire  sanhedrin,  at  least  the 
leaders  and  chief  representatives.  This  makes  an  advance  on  vs. 
15,  and  seems  to  imply  that  the  request  of  the  conspirators  had  been 
granted.  As  though  thou  wouldest  inquire.  The  proposition  of  the 
conspirators  contemplated  a  more  exact  inquiry  on  the  part  of  the 
sanhedrin.  This  verse  indicates  that  the  sanhedrin  agreed  to  ask 
the  captain  to  bring  Paul  down  as  though  for  his  own  further  enlight- 
enment regarding  his  case.  This  seems  rather  improbable  and  raises 
the  question  whether  the  modification  may  not  have  been  due  to  the 
youth  himself. 

21.  Looking  for  the  promise  from  thee.  That  is,  the  promise 
which  they  hoped  he  would  make,  and  the  fulfilment  of  which  they 
expected  on  the  morrow. 

23.  Two  of  the  centurions.  Or,  according  to  another  Greek  text, 
*  a  certain  two,'  as  though  the  captain  was  careful  in  his  choice  re- 
garding the  affair  as  one  that  called  for  especially  trustworthy  leaders. 
Two  hundred.  The  total  number  of  the  military  escort,  four  hundred 
and  seventy,  indicates  that  the  captain  was  determined  to  protect 
the  prisoner,  and  that  he  thought  a  serious  attack  of  the  enemies  of 
Paul  possible.  As  far  as  Caesarea.  About  sixty-eight  miles.  The 
foot-soldiers  did  not  go  to  Caesarea,  but  turned  back  at  Antipatris. 
At  the  third  hour  of  the  night.     About  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

217 


ACTS 

and  horsemen  threescore  and  ten,  and  spearmen  two 

24.  hundred,  °at  the  third  hour  of  the  night  :  and  he  hade 
them  °provide  beasts,  that  they  might  set  Paul  thereon, 

25.  and  bring  him  safe  unto  °Felix  the  governor.  And  he 
wrote  a  letter  °after  this  form  : 

26.  Claudius  °Lysias  unto  the  most  excellent  governor 

27.  Felix,  greeting.  This  man  was  seized  by  the  Jews,  and 
was  about  to  be  slain  of  them,  when  I  came  upon 
them  with  the  soldiers,  and  rescued  him,  °having  learned 

28.  that  he  was  a  Roman.  And  desiring  to  know  the 
cause  wherefore  they  accused  him,  I  brought  him  down 

29.  unto  their  council  :  whom  I  found  to  be  ^accused 
about  questions  of  their  law,  but  to  have  nothing  laid 

30.  to  his  charge  worthy  of  death  or  of  bonds.  And  when 
it  was  shewn  to  me  that  there  would  be  a  plot  against 
the  man,  I  sent  him  to  thee  forthwith,  °charging  his  ac- 
cusers also  to  speak  against  him  before  thee. 


24.  Provide  beasts.  The  plural  suggests  that  a  friend  or  two  went 
with  Paul.  Felix  the  governor.  Antoninus  Felix,  procurator  of 
Judaea,  was  appointed,  according  to  Josephus,  in  the  twelfth  year  of 
Claudius  (52  A.D.)  His  rule  of  the  country  was  marked  by  wholesale 
executions.  He  was  a  man  of  low  character  and  sought  to  govern  by 
force. 

25.  After  this  form.  The  Greek  does  not  clearly  indicate  whether 
the  writer  claimed  to  give  the  very  words  of  the  letter  or  only  its  chief 
contents.    The  character  of  the  letter  favors  its  genuineness. 

26.  Lysias.  The  bearer  of  this  Greek  name  may  have  been  a 
Greek  who  adopted  the  Latin  name  'Claudius,'  possibly  when  he 
secured  Roman  citizenship. 

27.  Having  learned  that  he  was  a  Roman.  This  does  not  agree 
exactly  with  Luke's  narrative  of  the  course  of  affairs,  but  we  should 
hardly  expect  that  a  pagan  soldier  would  voluntarily  expose  himself 
to  hostile  criticism.     He  simply  tells  the  story  for  his  own  advantage. 

29.  Accused  about  questions  of  their  law.  Lysias  may  have 
gained  this  information  from  private  conversation  with  the  friends 
and  the  enemies  of  the  prisoner. 

30.  Charging  his  accusers,  etc.  It  is  certain  that  Lysias  did  not 
tell  the  accusers  of  Paul  anything  about  appearing  before  Felix  until 

218 


ACTS  24 : 1 

31.  So  the  soldiers,  as  it   was  commanded  them,  took 

32.  Paul,  and  brought  him  by  night  to  °Antipatris.  But 
°on  the  morrow  °they  left  the  horsemen  to  go  with  him, 

33.  and  returned  to  the  castle  :  and  they,  °when  they  came 
to  Caesarea,  and  delivered  the  letter  to  the  governor, 

34.  presented  Paul  also  before  him.  And  when  he  had 
read  it,  he  asked  °of  what  province  he  was ;    and  when 

35.  he  understood  that  he  was  of  Cilicia,  I  will  hear  thy 
cause,  said  he,  when  thine  accusers  also  are  come  : 
and  he  commanded  him  to  be  kept  °in  Herod's  palace. 

The  hearing  before  Felix ^  24  : 1-21 

24.  And  °after  five  days  the  high  priest  °Ananias  came 
down  with  certain  elders,   and  with  an  orator,  one 

Paul  was  at  a  safe  distance  from  Jerusalem.  Therefore  the  statement 
of  this  verse  was  not  true  when  written.  Lysias  may  have  told  the 
accusers  the  next  day  that  Paul  was  in  Cjesarea,  and  there  is  no  reason 
to  suppose  that  he  did  not  plan  to  inform  them  when  he  wrote  the 
letter. 

31.  Antipatris.  A  town  about  forty-two  miles  northwest  from 
Jerusalem.  As  the  soldiers  did  not  start  until  the  third  hour  of  the 
evening,  they  can  hardly  have  made  the  entire  journey  *  by  night/ 
but  they  may  have  gone  more  than  half  of  the  way. 

32.  On  the  morrow.  That  is,  the  day  after  leaving  Jerusalem. 
They  left.  That  is,  the  centurions  in  charge  of  the  foot-soldiers  'al- 
lowed '  or  *  permitted  '  the  horsemen  to  go  forward  alone.  They  were 
now  at  such  a  distance  from  Jerusalem  that  the  smaller  escort  was 
deemed  sufficient. 

2)2,.  When  they  came  to  Caesarea.  As  all  the  company  were 
mounted  they  may  have  reached  Caesarea  the  day  after  leaving 
Jerusalem. 

34.  Of  what  province  he  was.  This  point  was  not  touched  in  the 
letter  of  Lysias.  Just  what  significance  the  question  had,  if  any,  does 
not  appear. 

35.  In  Herod's  palace.  Caesarea  was  built  by  Herod  the  Great, 
and  his  palace  was  now  the  residence  of  the  Roman  procurator. 

I.  After  five  days.  That  is,  from  the  last-mentioned  event,  viz., 
Paul's  arrival  in  Caesarea.      Accordingly,  as  two  days  must  be  al- 

219 


ACTS 

°Tertullus;    and  °they  informed  the  governor  against 

2.  Paul.     And  when  he  was  called,  Tertullus  began  to 
accuse  him,  saying, 

Seeing  that  by  thee  °we  enjoy  much  peace,  and  that 
by  thy  providence  °evils  are  corrected  for  this  nation 

3.  we  accept  it  in  all  ways  and  in  all  places,  most  excellent 

4.  Felix,  with  all  thankfulness.     But,  °that  I  be  not  further 
tedious  unto  thee,  I  entreat  thee  to  hear  us  of  thy  clem- 

5.  ency  a  few  words.    For  we  have  found  this  man  °a 
pestilent  fellow,  and  a  mover  of  insurrections  among  all 

lowed  for  the  trip,  it  appears  that  the  Jews  acted  promptly  in  following 
up  their  enemy.  Ananias.  See  on  23  :  2.  The  fact  that  the  high  priest 
himself  came  down  is  probably  an  indication  of  the  intense  hatred  of 
Paul  entertained  by  the  leaders.  Tertullus.  The  Roman  name  is  not 
proof  that  the  man  was  a  Roman,  but  there  are  some  reasons  for  think- 
ing that  he  was  not  a  Jew.  First,  the  professional  Jewish  lawy  r  was 
called  a  '  scribe.'  Then,  it  was  natural  that,  in  bringing  their  case 
before  the  Roman  procurator,  the  Jews  should  have  retained  one 
who  was  acquainted  with  Roman  law,  but  such  an  one  would  more 
likely  be  Roman  or  Greek  rather  than  Jewish.  Moreover,  there  is 
nothing  in  the  speech  attributed  to  Tertullus  which  is  inconsistent 
with  the  view  that  he  was  a  Roman.  As  a  resident  of  Jerusalem  he 
would  naturally  say  '  we  enjoy  '  (vs.  2),  *  we  accept '  (vs.  3),  *  we  have 
found '  (vs.  5),  and  would  otherwise  have  identified  himself  with  his 
clients.  They  informed  the  governor.  That  is,  the  Jews  brought 
their  case  before  the  governor  in  a  general  statement. 

2.  We  enjoy  much  peace.  According  to  Josephus  it  is  doubtful 
whether  Felix  deserved  this  praise.  He  destroyed  the  robbers,  but 
in  their  place  sprang  up  the  Assassins.  Whatever  peace  he  secured 
was  by  brute  force.  Evils  are  corrected.  This  too  was  flattery  rather 
than  truth.  The  state  of  Judaea  grew  worse  from  year  to  year.  There 
was  a  bitter  feud  between  the  Jews  and  Greeks  in  Caesarea  itself,  but 
Felix  was  not  able  to  cope  with  it. 

4.  That  I  be  not  further  tedious.  Or,  that  I  may  not  longer  *  detain 
you,'  i.e.,  with  these  matters  which  did  not  concern  the  case  in  hand. 
It  is  tolerably  safe  to  say  that  the  flattery  of  Tertullus  was  not  *  tedious ' 
to  the  governor. 

5.  A  pestilent  fellow.  This  was  merely  a  general  abusive  term, 
not  a  charge  that  could  be  considered  by  the  governor.  There  are 
three  counts  in  the  indictment  of  Tertullus.  First,  he  charged  that  Paul 
was  an  '  insurrectionist,'  an  inciter  of   riotous  disturbances,  working 

230 


ACTS 

the  Jews  throughout  the  world,  and  a  ringleader  of  the 
6.   sect  of  the  Nazarenes  :   who  moreover  assayed  to  pro- 

8.  fane  the  temple  :  on  whom  also  we  laid  hold  :  °from 
whom  thou  wilt  be  able,  by  examining  him  thyself,  to 
take  knowledge  of  all  these  things,  whereof  we  accuse 

9.  him.  And  the  Jews  also  joined  in  the  charge,  affirming 
that  these  things  were  so. 

10.       And  when  the  governor  °had  beckoned  unto  him  to 
speak,  Paul  answered. 

Forasmuch  as  I  know  that  thou  hast  been  °of  many 
years  a  judge  unto  this  nation,  I  do  cheerfully  make 


among  the  Jews  far  and  near  throughout  the  Roman  Empire.  It  is  true 
that  Paul's  presence  in  a  city  was  apt  to  provoke  a  riot,  yet  it  was  false 
that  he  was  a  riotous  person.  He  was  a  preacher  of  righteousness, 
and  the  riots  usually  came  from  the  hatred  and  jealousy  of  the  Jews. 
The  second  charge  of  Tertullus  was  that  Paul  was  a  ringleader  of  the 
sect  of  the  Nazarenes.  This  charge  was  substantially  true.  Paul 
was  a  leader  of  the  Nazarenes.  But  Tertullus  doubtless  sought  to 
prejudice  the  governor  against  him  by  the  use  of  the  words  '  sect ' 
and  *  Nazarene.'  The  former  was  suggestive  of  narrowness  and 
bigotry  (comp.  26  :  4),  the  latter  of  the  mean  origin  of  the  movement 
with  which  Paul  was  connected. 

6.  The  third  count  in  Tertullus'  indictment  was  that  Paul  had 
attempted  to  profane  the  temple.  This  was  based  on  the  slander  of 
21  :  28. 

8.  From  whom  thou  wilt  be  able.  Tertullus  closed  with  the  bold 
assertion  that  all  of  his  charges  would  be  found  valid  from  an  examina- 
tion of  the  prisoner.  He  intimates  that  all  his  charges  were  so  ob- 
viously true  that  the  governor  could  verify  them  from  Paul's  words, 
however  the  latter  might  seek  to  cover  the  truth.  What  we  have  of 
the  speech  of  Tertullus  can  be  no  more  than  the  merest  outline  of  its 
argument.  A  trained  advocate  who  had  come  down  from  Jerusalem 
on  an  important  case  was  more  likely  to  have  talked  a  half  day  than 
a  half  minute. 

10,  Had  beckoned.  This  sign,  as  the  Greek  indicates,  was  a  nod. 
Of  many  years  a  judge.  If  Felix  was  appointed  at  the  beginning  of 
52  A.D.,  he  had  been  a  procurator  now  some  four  and  a  half  years. 
This  period  might  indeed  have  given  him  a  large  experience,  but 
would  hardly  be  described  as  *  many  years.*  But  it  is  perhaps  pos- 
sible or  even  probable  that  Felix  had  been  a  *  judge  '  before  he  was  a 

221 


ACTS 

11.  my  defence  :   ^seeing  that  thou  canst  take  knowledge, 
that  it  is  not  more  than  twelve  days  since  I  went  up  to 

12.  worship  at  Jerusalem  :   and  neither  in  the  temple  did 
they  find  me  disputing  with  any  man  or  stirring  up  a 

13.  crowd,  nor  in  the  synagogues,  nor  in  the  city.     Neither 
can  they  prove  to  thee  the  things  whereof  they  now 

14.  accuse  me.    But  this  I  confess  unto  thee,  that  after 
°the  Way  which  they  call  a  sect,  °so  serve  I  the  God 

procurator,  for  Josephus  says  that  the  high  priest  Jonathan  asked  that 
Felix  might  be  appointed  procurator  (AnL  XX,  8.  5),  a  statement 
which  well  suits  the  view  that  Felix  had  previously  served  in  some 
subordinate  capacity  in  Judaea. 

11.  Seeing  that  thou  canst  take  knowledge.  It  was  possible, 
that  is,  for  Felix  to  satisfy  himself  that  Paul's  arrival  in  Jerusalem 
was  not  more  than  twelve  days  before  the  present.  A  matter  of  such 
recent  date  could  easily  be  determined.  Paul  probably  laid  stress 
on  this  point  because,  if  he  had  been  in  Jerusalem  only  about  a  week, 
he  could  hardly  have  made  himself  obnoxious  there  as  a  promoter 
of  riots  and  a  ringleader  of  the  Nazarenes.  The  twelve  days  may  be 
counted  on  this  wise :  the  meeting  with  James  on  the  first  day,  the 
arrest  on  the  sixth,  the  arrival  in  Caesarea  on  the  ninth,  and  adding 
the  five  days  of  24  :  i  we  come  to  the  thirteenth,  that  is,  twelve  full 
days  had  passed.  Or  we  may  look  simply  at  21  :  27  and  24  :  i,  and  by 
deducting  enough  from  the  seven  days  (see  the  *  almost  completed,* 
21  :  27)  to  cover  the  day  before  the  sanhedrin  and  the  journey  to 
Caesarea,  we  have  the  twelve  days  of  Paul's  statement. 

12.  This  verse  is  a  denial  of  the  charge,  as  far  as  Jerusalem  is  con- 
cerned, that  he  was  a  '  mover  of  insurrections.' 

13.  These  words  may  be  taken  closely  with  the  preceding,  and  so 
referred  to  the  first  count  in  the  indictment  against  Paul.  He  denies 
that  he  has  stirred  up  riots  in  Jerusalem,  and  then  affirms  that  they 
cannot  prove  him  a  mover  of  insurrections  anywhere. 

14.  In  this  verse  and  the  two  following  Paul  takes  up  the  second 
count  in  the  indictment.  He  confesses  himself  a  Nazarene.  The 
Way  which  they  call  a  sect.  Evidently  Paul  did  not  regard  Christianity 
as  a  species  of  Judaism,  but  since  he  saw  in  Jesus  the  Messiah  of  the 
O.T,,  he  regarded  Christianity  as  something  greater  than  Judaism, 
the  substance  of  which  that  was  only  the  shadow.  So  serve  I  the 
God  of  our  fathers.  To  be  a  Nazarene,  Paul  argues,  is  not  to  depart 
from  the  religion  of  the  OT.,  which  his  accusers  have  seemed  to 
imply.  He  serves  the  same  God  as  they  ;  he  believes  the  law  and  the 
prophets ;   he  believes  in  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.    The  situation 

222 


ACTS 

of  our  fathers,  believing  all  things  which  are  according 
to  the  law,  and  which  are  written  in  the  prophets  : 

15.  having  hope  toward  God,  °which  these  also  themselves 
look  for,  that  there  shall  be  a  resurrection  both  of  the 

16.  just  and  unjust.     °Herein  do  °I  also  exercise  myself  to 
have  a  conscience  void  of  offence  toward  God  and 

17.  men  alway.    Now  °after  many  years  I  came  to  bring 

18.  °alms  to  my  nation,  °and  offerings :  °amidst  which  they 

called  only  for  a  statement  of  what  he  had  in  common  with  all  Jews, 
not  for  a  definition  of  his  Christian  belief. 

15.  Which  these  also  themselves  look  for.  This  was  not  true  of 
Ananias  or  of  the  other  Sadducees,  but  it  was  true  of  the  Jews  as  a 
whole.  The  Sadducees  were  few  in  number.  The  language  appears 
to  imply  that  Paul  recognized  some  Pharisees  among  those  who  had 
come  down  to  Caesarea. 

16.  Herein,  Paul  has  confessed  himself  a  Nazarene  and  has 
shown  how  much  the  Nazarenes  have  in  common  with  all  Jews. 
Now,  perhaps  with  some  reference  to  the  word  '  ringleader  '  which 
was  used  by  TertuUus,  he  declares  that  in  this  faith  he  has  sought  to 
live  an  exemplary  life.  I  exercise  myself.  The  Greek  verb  here  trans- 
lated — found  nowhere  else  in  the  NT.  —  implies  earnest  and,  if  need 
be,  painful  effort.  The  seriousness  of  the  effort  may  be  inferred  also 
from  the  high  aim  of  Paul,  which  is  nothing  less  than  to  do  his  whole 
duty  toward  God  and  men. 

17.  After  many  years.  That  is,  since  his  last  visit  to  Jerusalem. 
If  we  find  that  last  visit  in  18  :  22,  then  only  about  four  years  elapsed 
between  it  and  his  recent  visit;  if  we  go  back  to  the  time  of  the  con- 
ference (chap.  15),  then  the  period  was  one  of  about  seven  years. 
In  either  case,  the  Greek  word  translated  *  many  '  might  better  be 
rendered  by  '  some  '  (so  R.V.m.).  Alms  to  my  nation.  This  was  a 
forcible  rebuttal  of  the  charge  that  he  was  a  '  pest '  and  a  '  mover  of 
insurrections.'  It  was  a  fact  of  which  the  governor  could  easily  satisfy 
himself,  for  the  entire  Jerusalem  church  were  witnesses  of  it.  And 
offerings.  Though  Paul  could  speak  of  his  great  collection  as  an 
*  offering  '  (see  Rom.  15  :  16),  yet  it  seems  clear  that  the  word  refers 
here  to  some  personal  religious  offering  in  the  temple.  He  had  gone 
up  to  Jerusalem  to  worship  (vs.  11),  and  worship  in  the  temple  would 
naturally  include  an  offering. 

18.  Amidst  which.  That  is,  occupied  with  the  offerings.  See 
21  :  26.  If  this  offering  for  the  Nazirites  was  the  only  one  which 
Paul  offered,  it  could  scarcely  be  said  that  he  went  up  to  bring  offer- 
ings, for  this  was  proposed  to  him  after  his  arrival.      The  decla- 

223 


ACTS 

found  me  purified  in  the  temple,  with  no  crowd,  nor 
yet  with  tumult :  but  there  were  ^certain  Jews  from 

19.  Asia  —  who  ought  to  have  been  here  before  thee, 
and  to  make  accusation,  if  they  had  aught  against  me. 

20.  °0r  else  let  these  men  themselves  say  what  wrong- 
doing they  found,  when  I  stood  before  the  council, 

21.  ^except  it  be  for  this  one  voice,  that  I  cried  standing 
among  them.  Touching  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  I 
am  called  in  question  before  you  this  day. 

Paul  kept  a  prisoner  in  CcBsarea,  24 :  22-27 

22.  But  Felix,  ^having  more  exact  knowledge  concerning 
the  Way,  ^deferred  them,  saying,  °When  Lysias  the 
chief  captain  shall  come  down,  I  will  determine  your 

23.  matter.    And  he  gave  order  to  the  centurion  that  he 

ration  that  he  was  found  purified  in  the  temple  is  an  answer 
to  the  charge  of  Tertullus  that  he  had  sought  to  defile  the  temple. 
But  certain  Jews  from  Asia.  The  sentence  beginning  with  these  words 
is  left  incomplete,  but  the  completion  of  it,  suggested  by  the  next 
verse,  would  be  of  this  sort,  '  accused  me  of  defiling  the  temple.' 

19.  This  verse  further  shows  the  weakness  of  the  prosecution  as 
regards  the  defilement  of  the  temple. 

20.  Or.  Since  the  Jews  of  Asia  are  not  present  to  bear  witness  in 
regard  to  a  defilement  of  the  temple  by  Paul,  '  let  these  men,'  etc. 

21.  Except  it  be  for  this  one  voice.  In  making  an  exception  of  this 
one  point,  viz.,  his  utterance  of  the  word  about  a  resurrection,  and 
allowing  that  this  might  be  called '  wrong-doing,'  Paul  spoke  ironically. 
For  if  he  had  felt  that  he  did  wrong  in  making  this  statement  before 
the  sanhedrin,  —  which  does  not  seem  likely  on  the  whole,  —  he 
would  scarcely  have  chosen  the  present  hour  to  make  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  fault.  We  are  therefore  to  hold  that  he  referred  to  his 
appearance  before  the  sanhedrin  as  an  unanswerable  argument  in 
his  favor  over  against  the  charges  of  Tertullus. 

22.  Having  more  exact  knowledge.  That  is,  more  exact  than  that 
which  was  reflected  in  the  words  of  Tertullus  and  the  Jews.  He  was 
in  a  position,  according  to  Luke,  to  see  the  weakness  of  their  accusa- 
tions. We  cannot  say  how  he  had  obtained  this  knowledge  of  Chris- 
tianity, but  it  is  obvious  that  he  must  have  had  many  opportunities. 

224 


ACTS 

should  be  kept  in  charge,  and  should  °have  indulgence ; 
and  °not  to  forbid  any  of  his  friends  to  minister  unto 
him. 

24.  But  after  certain  days,  °Felix  came  with  °Drusilla, 
his  wife,  which  was  a  Jewess,  and  °sent  for  Paul,  and 

25.  heard  him  concerning  the  faith  in  Christ  Jesus.  And 
°as  he  reasoned  of  righteousness,  and  temperance,  and 
the  judgement  to  come,  °FeUx  was  terrified,  and  an- 

Deferred  them.  This,  at  least,  was  to  the  credit  of  the  governor. 
The  popular  thing  would  have  been  to  gratify  the  leaders  of  the  Jewish 
state  and  condemn  Paul.  On  what  grounds  he  still  kept  the  prisoner 
in  custody,  we  do  not  know.  When  Lysias.  There  is  no  indication 
that  Lysias  ever  came  down  to  Caesarea  to  give  testimony  regarding 
Paul.  We  may  therefore  infer  that  the  governor  never  sent  for  him. 
It  is  possible,  then,  that  this  reference  to  Lysias  was  only  a  device  for 
turning  away  the  Jews  without  disappointing  them  too  greatly. 

23.  Have  indulgence.  This  implies  a  lightening  of  the  hardship 
which  up  to  this  time  Paul's  confinement  had  occasioned.  This  is  a 
plain  indication  that  Felix  did  not  consider  the  case  against  Paul  as 
very  serious.  Not  to  forbid.  There  is  here  a  suggestion  that  Paul  had 
not  been  allowed  free  intercourse  with  his  friends  hitherto.  Who 
these  friends  were,  whether  Christians  of  Caesarea  only,  or  these  and 
some  of  the  companions  of  Paul  from  Jerusalem,  cannot  be  said.  See 
note  on  23  :  24. 

24.  Felix  came.  The  probable  reference  is  to  a  return  to  Caesarea 
after  an  absence.  Drusilla.  A  daughter  of  Agrippa  I,  who  had  be- 
headed James  (12  :  2),  and  sister  of  Agrippa  II  and  Bernice  before 
whom  Paul  spoke  when  Festus  was  procurator  (25  :  13).  Felix  had 
alienated  her  from  her  husband  King  Azizus.  Luke  says  that 
Drusilla  who  came  with  Felix  to  Caesarea  at  this  time  was  '  his  own 
wife,'  an  emphasis  which  is  possibly  due  to  the  fact  that  she  was  a 
Jewess.  Sent  for  Paul.  That  is,  from  the  part  of  the  castle  where  he 
was  kept.  There  is  no  intimation  that  there  were  others  present 
besides  Felix  and  Drusilla.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  Drusilla,  being  a 
Jewess,  was  curious  to  see  and  hear  the  prisoner  whose  name  must 
have  been  frequently  heard  in  the  last  days. 

25.  As  he  reasoned  of  righteousness.  Apparently  Paul  did  not 
speak  particularly  of  the  faith  in  Jesus.  What  he  is  reported  to  have 
said  might  have  been  spoken  by  an  OT.  prophet.  His  sermon 
appears  to  have  been  suited  to  the  need  of  Felix,  though  it  is  not  likely 
that  Paul  made  direct  personal  charges  against  the  governor's  character. 
He  would  thus  have  probably  failed  to  touch  his  conscience.     Felix 

Q  225 


ACTS 

swered,  °Go  thy  way  for  this  time ;    and  when  I  have 

26.  a  convenient  season,  I  will  call  thee  unto  me.  He 
hoped  °withal  that  money  would  be  given  him  of  Paul : 
wherefore  also  he  sent  for  him  the  oftener,  and  °com- 

27.  muned  with  him.  But  when  °two  years  were  fulfilled, 
Felix  was  succeeded  by  °Porcius  Festus;  and  desiring 
to  gain  favour  with  the  Jews,  Felix  left  Paul  in  bonds. 

The  hearing  before  Festus  and  the  appeal  to  Ccesar^  25: 1-12 

25.  Festus  therefore,  having  come  into  the  province, 
°after  three  days  went  up  to  Jerusalem  from  Caesarea. 

was  terrified.  This  is  not  to  be  inferred  from  what  Felix  is  reported 
to  have  said,  but  it  might  have  been  manifest  in  his  countenance  and 
behavior  as  Paul  spoke.  Go  thy  way  for  this  time.  Whether  Paul 
made  any  personal  appeal  or  not,  the  governor  felt  that  some  sort 
of  response  from  him  was  reasonably  to  be  expected.  Not  a  deep  and 
powerful  feeling  was  that  which  moved  him,  for  then  he  would  not 
have  procrastinated. 

26.  Withal.  This  hope  may  have  been  nourished  by  the  number 
and  character  of  the  friends  who  came  to  see  Paul,  for  it  is  not  likely 
that  his  own  appearance  indicated  wealth.  Communed  with  him. 
Not  on  the  faith  in  Jesus,  and  certainly  not  regarding  righteousness, 
self-control,  and  judgment  to  come,  but  rather  about  his  release. 
Whether  Felix  openly  asked  Paul  for  money,  or  only  hinted  at  the 
possibility  of  his  purchasing  his  liberty,  is  not  indicated  in  the  text. 

27.  Two  years  were  fulfilled.  The  three  preceding  verses  contain 
all  that  we  know  of  this  long  period  spent  by  Paul  in  Caesarea.  It  is 
therefore  a  blank  as  regards  his  own  plans,  his  Gentile  mission,  his 
friends,  his  physical  and  spiritual  state.  What  years  these  were, 
which  terminated  with  the  arrival  of  Festus,  is  not  known  with  perfect 
certainty.  From  Pentecost  of  58  A.D.  to  Pentecost  of  60  a.d.  is  per- 
haps the  best  approximation.  Porcius  Festus.  Appointed  by 
Nero,  died  in  62  A.d.  According  to  the  narrative  of  Acts  Festus  com- 
pares favorably  with  his  predecessor.  He  acted  promptly  in  Paul's 
case,  and  acted  according  to  the  law.  Josephus  says  that  he  was  a 
better  man  than  his  successor  Albinus,  but  this  is  not  very  high 
praise. 

I.  After  three  days  went  up  to  Jerusalem.  Although  Cassarea 
was  the  official  seat  of  the  procurators,  it  was  to  their  interest  to  show 
themselves  to  the  people  in  the  capital. 

326 


ACTS  25:5 

2.  And  the  chief  priests  and  the  principal  men  of  the 
Jews  °informed  him  against  Paul;    and  they  besought 

3.  him,  °asking  favour  against  him,  that  he  would  send  for 
him  to  Jerusalem ;   °laying  wait  to  kill  him  on  the  way. 

4.  Howbeit  Festus  answered,  that  °Paul  was  kept  in 
charge  at  Caesarea,  and  that  he  himself  was  about  to 

5.  depart  thither  shortly.  Let  them  °therefore,  saith  he, 
°which  are  of  power  among  you,  °go  down  with  me, 
and  °if  there  is  anything  amiss  in  the  man,  let  them 
accuse  him. 

2.  Informed  him  against  Paul,  As  far  as  we  know,  the  Jewish 
leaders  took  no  steps  against  Paul  after  the  hearing  before  Felix,  but 
they  were  simply  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  strike. 

3.  Asking  favour  against  him.  Festus  being  a  new  procurator 
and  they  the  leaders  of  the  nation,  they  probably  had  good  hope  that 
the  favor  which  they  asked  would  be  granted.  This  favor  was  in 
reality  that  Paul's  case  should  be  transferred  from  the  Roman  to 
the  Jewish  court.  That  meant,  as  Festus  could  easily  see  (comp. 
vs.  15),  a  sentence  against  him.  Yet  the  Jews  did  not  regard  it 
just  in  this  light,  as  the  next  clause  shows.  Laying  wait  to  kill  him 
on  the  way.  The  Jews  in  asking  that  the  case  be  transferred  to  their 
court  were  not  thinking  of  a  fair  trial  of  it,  or  indeed  of  any  trial  at 
all.  Perhaps  they  did  not  dare  to  risk  this  after  the  experience  in 
the  sanhedrin  two  years  before.  They  were  plotting  assassination 
as  on  a  former  occasion  (23  :  15).  This  plot  was,  of  course,  unknown 
to  Festus  at  the  time,  but  may  as  easily  have  come  to  the  knowledge 
of  Luke  in  later  days  as  had  the  former  conspiracy. 

4.  Paul  was  kept  in  charge  at  Caesarea.  It  is  not  altogether  clear 
what  Festus  meant  by  saying  that  Paul  was  guarded  in  Caesarea. 
That  was,  of  course,  no  news  to  the  Jews.  Perhaps  these  words  are 
to  be  taken  closely  with  the  following,  and  perhaps  this  is  the  thought 
of  the  two  parts  of  the  verse  :  Paul  is  guarded  in  Caesarea,  two  days' 
journey  from  here,  and  I  am  on  the  point  of  going  thither  myself. 
If  this  is  a  correct  construction,  then  the  ground  of  the  refusal,  as 
far  as  this  verse  is  concerned,  is  that  the  governor's  plans  would  not 
allow  the  request. 

5.  Therefore.  That  is,  as  I  am  going  down  to  Caesarea  at  once. 
Them  which  are  of  power.  This  appears  to  be  equivalent  to  saying, 
'  those  who  are  officially  qualified  to  act  in  the  matter.'  Go  down 
with  me.  Asking  them  to  go  down  in  his  company  may  have  been 
meant  to  soften  somewhat  the  fact  of  his  refusal  to  accede  to  their 

227 


ACTS 

6.  And  when  he  had  tarried  among  them  °not  more  than 
eight  or  ten  days,  he  went  down  unto  Caesarea;  and 
on  the  morrow  he  sat  on  the  judgement-seat,   and 

7.  commanded  Paul  to  be  brought.  And  when  he  was 
come,  the  Jews  which  had  come  down  from  Jerusalem 
stood  round  about  him,  bringing  against  him  °many 
and  grievous  charges,  which  they  could  not  prove; 

8.  while  Paul  said  in  his  defence.  Neither  against  the 
law  of  the  Jews,  nor  against  the  temple,  nor  against 

9.  Caesar,  have  I  sinned  at  all.  But  Festus,  °desiring  to 
gain  favour  with  the  Jews,  answered  Paul,  and  said, 
Wilt  thou  go  up  to  Jerusalem,  and  there  be  judged  of 


request.  If  there  is  anything  amiss.  The  information  brought 
against  Paul  by  the  Jews  had  by  no  means  convinced  Festus  that  he 
was  a  malefactor. 

6.  Not  more  than  eight  or  ten  days.  That  is,  the  entire  length  of 
his  stay  in  Jerusalem,  not  the  time  after  his  refusal  of  their  request. 
Luke  seems  not  to  have  had  exact  knowledge  of  this  period,  but  only 
approximate.  If  we  suppose  that  he  was  in  Caesarea,  he  would  know 
how  long  Festus  was  absent  on  his  visit  to  Jerusalem,  but  might 
not  know  the  exact  time  spent  in  going  and  coming. 

7.  Many  and  grievous  charges.  Since  Luke  does  not  specify  these 
charges,  we  are  to  suppose  that  they  were  essentially  the  same  that 
had  been  urged  against  him  before. 

8.  It  may  be  inferred  from  this  verse  that  the  accusations  against 
Paul  had  been  partly  religious  and  partly  political  in  character,  as 
in  the  trial  before  Felix  (24  :  5-6).  The  very  great  brevity  of  Luke's 
report  of  the  defence  of  Paul  may  suggest  that  he  made  a  simple 
denial  of  the  charges,  and  challenged  his  accusers  to  produce  proof. 

9.  Desiring  to  gain  favour.  This  is  very  likely  a  correct  inference 
from  what  Festus  said  to  Paul.  His  real  motive  may  well  have  been 
to  secure  the  favor  of  the  Jews.  This  throws  an  unfavorable  light  on 
his  character.  At  the  same  time  it  is  to  be  noticed  that  his  desire  to 
gain  favor  was  not  strong  enough  to  make  him  do  more  than  propose 
to  Paul  that  he  should  go  up  to  Jerusalem.  He  might  have  sent  him 
up  at  once.  Before  me.  Festus  did  not  propose,  formally  at  least, 
that  the  case  of  Paul  should  be  given  over  to  the  sanhedrin  with  full 
power.  He  would  go  up  himself  and  be  the  judge.  Yet  according  to 
vs.  II  Paul  considered  that  the  governor's  proposal  virtually  meant 
his  surrender  to  the  Jews. 

228 


ACTS  25:13 

10.  these  things  °before  me?  But  Paul  said,  I  am  standing 
°before  Caesar's  judgement-seat,  °where  I  ought  to  be 
judged  :   to  the  Jews  have  I  done  no  wrong,  °as  thou 

11.  also  very  well  knowest.  If  then  I  am  a  wrong-doer, 
and  have  committed  anything  worthy  of  death,  I 
refuse  not  to  die  :  but  °if  none  of  those  things  is  truey 
whereof  these  accuse  me,   no  man  can  give  me  up 

12.  unto  them.  °I  appeal  unto  Caesar.  Then  Festus,  when 
he  had  °conferred  with  the  council,  answered,  °Thou 
hast  appealed  unto  Caesar  :   unto  Caesar  shalt  thou  go. 

Circumstances  which  led  to   the  defence    before  A  grip  pa, 
25 : 13-27 

13.  Now  when  certain  days  were  passed,  °Agrippa  the 
king  and  °Bernice  arrived  at  Caesarea,   and  saluted 

10.  Before  Caesar's  judgement-seat.  He  was  at  the  Roman  bar, 
for  the  procurator  represented  the  emperor,  but  though  he  was  at 
Caesar's  judgment-seat,  he  was  not  at  the  judgment-seat  of  Caesar. 
The  supreme  court  was  in  Rome.  Where  I  ought  to  be  judged. 
Lysias  had  informed  Felix  that  Paul  was  a  Roman  citizen,  and  Festus 
must  have  known  this  fact.  It  was  in  the  consciousness  of  this 
citizenship  that  Paul  said  he  ought  to  be  judged  at  Caesar's  judgment- 
seat.  As  thou  also  very  well  knowest.  Read  thus,  Paul's  words  are 
a  decided  rebuke  to  Festus  for  his  proposal.  This  is  somewhat 
softened  when  we  render  the  Greek  more  closely,  '  as  thou  also  better 
knowest,'  i.e.,  better  than  to  make  this  proposal. 

11.  If  none  of  those  things  is  true.  This  is  the  same  position  that 
Paul  took  in  vs.  8.  If  no  sin  against  the  Jews  had  been  proved,  no 
one  could  give  him  up  to  them,  i.e.,  it  would  be  unlawful  so  to  do. 
I  appeal  unto  Caesar.  Exercising  thus  his  right  of  appeal  as  a  Roman 
citizen,  Paul  put  an  end  to  the  discussion  regarding  his  going  up  to 
Jerusalem,  and  also  formally  took  his  case  out  of  the  hands  of  Festus. 

12.  Conferred  with  the  council.  That  is,  with  his  advisers,  to  see 
if  there  was  any  reason  why  the  appeal  should  be  rejected.  Thou 
hast  appealed,  etc.  The  words  in  which  Festus  announced  his 
decision  to  Paul  perhaps  suggest  that  the  prisoner,  who  had  taken 
his  case  out  of  the  lower  court,  might  not  find  the  higher  court  much 
to  his  liking. 

229 


25:14  ACTS 

14.  Festus.  And  as  they  tarried  there  many  days,  Festus 
°laid  Paul's  case  before  the  king,  saying.  There  is  a 

15.  certain  man  left  a  prisoner  by  Fehx  :  about  whom, 
when  I  was  at  Jerusalem,  °the  chief  priests  and  the 
elders  of  the  Jews  informed  me,  ^asking  for  sentence 

16.  against  him.     °To  whom  I  answered,  that  it  is  not  the 


13.  Agrippa  the  king.  Agrippa  II  was  a  great-grandson  of  Herod 
the  Great,  son  of  the  Herod  whose  death  is  recorded  in  chapter  12, 
and  ruled  over  a  region  which  was  mainly  on  the  east  and  north  of 
Palestine,  its  capital  being  Caesarea  Philippi.  He  was  devoted  to 
Rome,  and  therefore  came  down  to  salute  Rome's  representative. 
Bernice.     A  sister  of  Agrippa  II. 

14.  Laid  Paul's  case  before  the  king.  The  aim  of  Festus,  to  judge 
from  vs.  26,  was  to  get  the  king's  opinion  of  the  case.  Agrippa  had 
a  reputation  for  learning  in  matters  of  Jewish  law.  See  26  :  3.  How 
a  conversation  between  Festus  and  the  king  should  have  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  Luke  is  indeed  rather  difficult  to  surmise.  At  the  same 
time,  it  is  difficult  to  regard  vss.  14-22  as  a  free  composition  by  the 
author  of  Acts  because  of  certain  concrete  details,  especially  in  vss. 
19-20.  Thus  the  reference  to  *  one  Jesus,  who  was  dead,  whom  Paul 
affirmed  to  be  alive,'  admirably  suits  the  lips  of  a  foreigner  who  had 
just  acquired  a  slight  acquaintance  with  Christianity.  And  again, 
the  statement  that  he  was  '  perplexed  '  and  the  definite  arrangement 
of  the  time,  '  to-morrow  thou  shalt  hear  him,'  seem  to  imply  an  actual 
historical  basis  for  the  account  of  Paul's  case  by  Festus. 

15.  The  chief  priests  and  the  elders.  Luke's  statement  in  vs.  2 
has  '  principal  men,'  where  the  present  verse  has  *  elders.'  The  two 
expressions  are  not  wholly  synonymous,  for  obviously  there  might  be 
very  influential  men  who  were  not  in  the  sanhedrin.  It  seems  likely 
that  those  who  came  to  Festus  on  his  arrival  in  Jerusalem,  asking  favor 
against  Paul,  would  have  introduced  themselves  to  the  governor  in 
the  light  most  favorable  to  themselves,  i.e.,  as  members  of  the  supreme 
court  of  their  nation.  As  Luke  uses  the  expression  *  principal  men,' 
it  is  possible  that  he  knew  of  some  in  the  delegation  which  came  to 
Festus,  who  were  not  sanhedrists,  though  all  allowed  themselves  to 
appear  as  such  to  the  governor.  Asking  for  sentence  against  him. 
This  is  more  expressive  than  the  statement  in  vs.  3,  yet  is  in  reality 
the  same.  The  Jews  did  not  come  out  and  ask  in  so  many  words  for 
the  condemnation  of  Paul,  but  the  procurator  saw  very  well  that  their 
request  amounted  to  that. 

16.  To  whom  I  answered.  It  seems  likely  that  Festus  in  putting 
the  case  before  the  king  would  report  his  own  part  in  the  most  fa- 

230 


ACTS  25:22 

custom  of  the  Romans  to  give  up  any  man,  before 
that  the  accused  have  the  accusers  face  to  face,  and 
have  had  opportunity  to  make  his  defence  concerning 

17.  the  matter  laid  against  him.  When  therefore  they  were 
come  together  here,  I  made  no  delay,  but  on  the  next 
day  sat  down  on  the  judgement-seat,  and  commanded 

18.  the  man  to  be  brought.  Concerning  whom,  when  the 
accusers  stood  up,  they  brought  no  charge  °of  such  evil 

19.  things  as  I  supposed;  but  had  certain  questions  against 
him  of  their  own  religion,  and  %i  one  Jesus,  who  was 

20.  dead,  °whom  Paul  affirmed  to  be  alive.  And  °I,  being 
perplexed  how  to  inquire  concerning  these  things,  asked 
whether  he  would  go  to  Jerusalem,  and  there  be  judged 

21.  of  these  matters.  But  when  Paul  had  appealed  °to 
be  kept  for  the  decision  of  the  emperor,  I  commanded 

22.  him  to  be  kept  till  I  should  send  him  to  Caesar.    And 

vorable  light.     What  he  here  gives  as  his  reply  to  the  Jews  is  more 
creditable  to  him  than  what  is  given  in  vss,  4-5. 

18.  Of  such  evil  things  as  I  supposed.  This  language  suggests 
that  the  information  against  Paul  in  Jerusalem  had  been  chiefly  of  a 
political  sort,  very  likely  vague  and  undefined,  for  Paul  was  not  there 
to  challenge  it.  But  now,  in  Caesarea,  in  a  formal  hearing  when  the 
prisoner  was  present,  they  appear  to  have  laid  chief  stress  (so  vs.  19) 
on  the  religious  aspect  of  the  case. 

19.  Of  one  Jesus.  It  appears  from  this  verse  that  the  accusers 
had  said  something  of  Jesus,  though  Luke's  report  of  the  hearing 
does  not  indicate  it  (vss.  7-8).  What  they  had  said  of  him,  unless  that 
he  had  been  put  to  death,  the  words  of  Festus  do  not  suggest.  Whom 
Paul  afltoned  to  be  alive.  Of  this  also  the  report  of  the  trial  by  Luke 
has  no  trace.  If  he  was  present  at  the  trial  before  Festus,  he  knew 
whether  Paul  spoke  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  and  if  he  had  not 
done  so,  it  does  not  appear  likely  that  he  would  have  put  the  words 
of  the  present  verse  on  the  lips  of  Festus. 

20.  I,  being  perplexed.  This  gives  a  somewhat  different  view 
of  the  matter  from  that  of  vs.  9.  It  is  there  said  by  Luke  that  the 
motive  of  Festus  was  to  gain  favor  with  the  Jews.  But  of  course 
Festus  would  not  admit  this  to  the  king. 

21.  To  be  kept  for  the  decision  of  the  emperor.  All  this  was 
implied  in  the  words  spoken  by  Paul,  *  I  appeal  to  Caesar  '  (vs.  11). 

231 


ACTS 

Agrippa  said  unto  Festus,  I  also  °could  wish  to  hear  the 
man  myself.  To-morrow,  saith  he,  thou  shalt  hear 
him. 

23.  So  on  the  morrow,  when  Agrippa  was  come,  and 
Bernice,  °with  great  pomp,  and  they  were  entered  into 
the  place  of  hearing,  °with  the  chief  captains,  and  °the 
principal  men  of  the  city,  at  the  command  of  Festus 

24.  Paul  was  brought  in.  And  Festus  saith,  King  Agrippa, 
and  all  men  which  are  here  present  with  us,  ye  behold 
°this  man,  about  whom  °all  the  multitude  of  the  Jews 
made  suit  to  me,  both  at  Jerusalem  and  here,  °crying 

25.  that  he  ought  not  to  live  any  longer.    But  I  found  that 

22.  Could  wish.  Or,  '  I  should  like,'  —  a  polite  form  of  request. 
This  appears  preferable  to  the  marginal  reading  '  I  was  wishing,' 
which  is  vague  in  regard  to  time  and  says  nothing  of  the  present 
interest.  Whether  Agrippa  had  ever  heard  of  Paul,  we  cannot  say. 
Festus  appears  to  have  taken  for  granted  that  he  had  not. 

23.  With  great  pomp.  In  honor,  not  of  Paul,  of  course,  but  of  the 
Roman  government  which  Festus  represented.  Their  father  also 
seems  to  have  been  fond  of  display.  See  12  :  21.  With  the  chief 
captains.  This  language  suggests  that  more  than  one  cohort  was  at 
present  in  Caesarea.  Josephus  mentions  that  at  one  time  in  the 
Jewish  War  there  were  five  cohorts  at  Caesarea.  (See  Jew.  War, 
III,  4.  2).  The  principal  men  of  the  city.  It  is  evident  that  Festus 
thought  Paul  a  man  who  was  worth  hearing ;  otherwise  he  would 
not  have  invited  prominent  people  to  come  together.  In  gathering  a 
large  and  distinguished  company  he  doubtless  wished  to  pay  a  com- 
pliment to  Agrippa  and  Bernice. 

24.  This  man.  We  are  to  think  of  him  as  in  chains  (see  26  :  29), 
perhaps  as  bound  to  a  soldier.  Comp.  28  :  16.  All  the  multitude 
of  the  Jews.  This  is  not  in  strict  agreement  with  vs.  2  and  vs.  7,  for 
in  the  former  only  the  chief  priests  and  elders  are  mentioned,  and  in 
the  latter  there  is  no  reference  to  the  presence  of  any  Jews  except 
those  who  had  come  down  from  Jerusalem.  We  may  suppose  either 
that  Festus  regarded  those  officials  who  came  to  him  as  representing 
the  whole  multitude  of  the  Jews,  or  that,  both  in  Jerusalem  and 
Caesarea,  the  officials  were  backed  up  by  a  clamorous  crowd  whom 
Luke  does  not  mention.  Crying  that  he  ought  not  to  live.  This 
'  crying  '  would  suit  the  view  that  there  was  in  reality  a  crowd  of 
fanatical  Jews  backing  up  the  charges  of  the  priests. 

232 


ACTS  26 : 4 

he  had  committed  ^nothing  worthy  of  death  :  and  °as  he 
himself  appealed  to  the  emperor  I  determined  to  send 

26.  him.  Of  whom  °I  have  no  certain  thing  to  write  unto 
my  lord.  Wherefore  I  have  brought  him  forth  before 
you,  and  specially  before  thee,  king  Agrippa,  that, 
after  examination  had,  I  may  have  somewhat  to  write. 

27.  For  it  seemeth  to  me  unreasonable,  in  sending  a  pris- 
oner, not  withal  to  signify  the  charges  against  him. 

Paul  before  Agrippa,  26  :  1-32 

26.  And  °Agrippa  said  unto  Paul,  Thou  art  permitted  to 
speak  for  thyself.  Then  Paul  °stretched  forth  his  hand, 
and  made  his  defence  : 

2.  I  think  myself  happy,  king  Agrippa,  that  I  am  to 
make  my  defence  before  thee  this  day  touching  all  the 

3.  things  whereof  I  am  accused  by  the  Jews  :  especially 
because  thou  art  expert  in  all  customs  and  questions 
which  are  among  the  Jews  :   wherefore  I  beseech  thee 

4.  to  hear  me  patiently.  °My  manner  of  hfe  then  from 
my  youth  up,  which  was  °from  the  beginning  among 

25.  Nothing  worthy  of  death.  That  is,  of  course,  in  the  eye  of  the 
law.  As  he  himself  appealed  to  the  emperor.  Festus  had  already 
said  this  to  the  king  (vs.  21),  but  it  was  perfectly  natural  that  he  should 
say  it  also  to  Bernice  and  the  rest. 

26.  I  have  no  certain  thing  to  write.  Many  charges  had  been 
made  against  Paul,  but  Festus  here  admits  that  he  did  not  regard  any 
one  of  them  as  established. 

I.  Agrippa  said  unto  Paul.  Though  Agrippa  had  no  authority 
in  Caesarea  or  in  the  case  of  Paul,  yet  as  the  highest  dignitary  present 
it  was  natural  that  Festus  should  leave  to  him  the  summoning  of  Paul 
to  speak.  Stretched  forth  his  hand.  Hence  the  bonds  (vs.  29), 
whatever  they  were,  did  not  bind  his  hands  tightly  together.  One 
hand  may  have  been  free,  and  the  other  bound  to  a  soldier. 

4.  My  manner  of  life.  That  is,  as  appears  from  vs.  5,  on  its  reli- 
gious side.  From  the  beginning  among  mine  own  nation.  This 
seems  to  imply  that  while  he  lived  in  Tarsus,  before  going  to  Jeru- 

22>3 


ACTS 

mine  own  nation,  and  at  Jerusalem,  know  all  the  Jews ; 

5.  having  knowledge  of  me  from  the  first,  if  they  be 
willing  to  testify,  how  that  after  °the  straitest  sect  of 

6.  our  religion  I  lived  a  Pharisee.  And  now  I  stand 
here  °to  be  judged  for  the  hope  of  the  promise  made  of 

7.  God  unto  our  fathers;  unto  which  promise  our  twelve 
tribes,  earnestly  serving  God  night  and  day,  hope  to 
attain.    And  ^concerning  this  hope  I  am  accused  by 

8.  the  Jews,  O  king !      °Why  is  it  judged  incredible  with 

9.  you,  if  God  doth  raise  the  dead?  °I  verily  thought 
with  myself,  that  I  ought  to  do  many  things  contrary 

salem,  he  was  among  his  own  people ;  that  is  to  say,  though  a  Hel- 
lenist, he  was  not  at  that  time  associated  with  Gentiles.  His  training 
was  of  the  strict  Pharisaic  sort.     See  Phil.  3:5;   Acts  23  :  6. 

5.  The  straitest  sect.    Other  sects  were  the  Sadducees  and  Essenes. 

6.  To  be  judged  for  the  hope  of  the  promise.  See  note  on  23  :  6. 
What  this  promise  was,  Paul  did  not  say  until  he  had  first  noted  certain 
things  about  it. 

7.  Concerning  this  hope.  He  has  not  yet  told  what  the  hope  is. 
He  has  only  said  that  it  is  a  hope  which  all  the  Jews  cherish  no  less 
than  he.  An  orthodox  Jew  would,  of  course,  have  taken  issue  with 
Paul  at  this  point,  and  would  have  denied  that  there  were  historical 
evidences  of  that  which  he  claimed  to  be  the  fulfilment  of  the 
promise  to  the  fathers.  Yet  we  must  regard  his  analysis  of  the 
reason  why  he  was  accused  as  substantially  correct.  The  formal 
accusations  that  were  brought  against  him  by  the  Jews  were  super- 
ficial ;  the  real  underlying  ground  of  all  the  charges  was  that  he  found 
the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  in  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  and  accord- 
ingly preached  him  as  the  Messiah  of  the  world. 

8.  Here,  at  last,  Paul  indicates  what  the  promise  to  the  fathers 
was,  and  yet  not  fully  and  clearly.  Why  is  it  judged  incredible  ? 
Paul  has  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  in  mind,  as  the  next  verse  shows. 
Why,  he  asks,  is  this  judged  incredible,  if  God  raises  the  dead  (as  the 
fathers  in  general  believed)  ? 

9.  I  verily  thought.  Better,  *  I  therefore  thought.'  The  connection 
of  ideas  is  this  :  he  has  just  spoken  of  something  which  the  Jews  did 
not  believe,  meaning  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  and  then,  with  this 
unbelief  in  his  thought,  and  passing  to  his  own  case,  when  he  also 
did  not  believe,  he  says,  '  I  therefore  thought  with  myself,'  etc.  Act- 
ing contrary  to  the  name  of  Jesus  was  the  logical  consequence  of  his 
unbelief  in  him.    Comp.  i  Tim.  i :  13. 

234 


ACTS 

10.  to  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  And  this  I  also 
did  in  Jerusalem  :  and  I  both  shut  up  many  of  °the 
saints  in  prisons,  °having  received  authority  from  the 
chief  priests,  and  °when  they  were  put  to  death,  °I  gave 

11.  my  vote  against  them.  And  punishing  them  °of ten- 
times  in  all  the  synagogues,  *^I  strove  to  make  them 
blaspheme;    and  being  exceedingly  mad  against  them, 

12.  I  persecuted  them  °even  unto  foreign  cities.  Where- 
upon as  I  journeyed  to  Damascus  with  the  authority 

13.  and  commission  of  the  chief  priests,  at  midday,  O  king, 
I  saw  on  the  way  a  light  from  heaven,  °above  the  bright- 
ness of  the  sun,  shining  round  about  me  and  them 

14.  that  journeyed   with   me.     And   when   we   were   °all 

10.  The  saints.  This  is,  of  course,  said  from  his  present  Christian 
point  of  view.  They  were  anything  but  '  saints  '  to  him  when  he  was 
a  persecutor.  Having  received  authority.  Comp.  9  :  2.  What  was 
there  said  of  the  mission  to  Damascus  is  here  afl&rmed  in  regard  to  all 
his  work  as  persecutor.  It  was  authorized  by  the  sanhedrin.  When 
they  were  put  to  death.  This  implies  the  execution  of  a  number. 
See  also  22  :  4;  9:1;  8:1.  Luke  describes  only  the  first  of  these 
executions,  that  of  Stephen.  I  gave  my  vote.  If  we  take  these  words 
literally,  as  we  probably  should,  then  it  follows  that  Paul  was  a  mem- 
ber of  a  court  which  (subject  to  Rome)  wielded  the  power  of  life  and 
death,  i.e.,  that  he  was  a  member  of  the  sanhedrin. 

11.  Oftentimes  in  all  the  synagogues.  This  punishment  in  the 
synagogues  is  not  mentioned  in  the  other  accounts.  The  statement 
is  a  strong  one,  suggesting  a  widespread  and  severe  persecution. 
I  strove  to  make  them  blaspheme,  i.e.,  by  speaking  evil  of  Jesus. 
Comp.  James  2  :  7.  Even  unto  foreign  cities.  We  know  the  details 
of  only  one  attempt  to  persecute  disciples  in  a  foreign  city,  but  this 
language  implies  that  he  had  gone  to  other  cities  before  he  went  to 
Damascus. 

13.  Above  the  brightness  of  the  sun.  A  stronger  expression  than 
that  of  22 : 6. 

14.  All  fallen  to  the  earth.  Luke  says  that  Paul  fell  to  the  ground, 
and  that  those  who  journeyed  with  him  stood  speechless  (9  :  4,  7), 
and  Paul  in  his  address  from  the  castle  stairs  says  that  he  fell  to  the 
ground  (22 : 7),  but  does  not  mention  his  companions.  That  Luke 
left  such  divergences  in  his  narrative  which  was  designed  to  establish 
Theophilus  in  the  faith  shows  that  he  regarded  them  as  quite  unim- 

235 


ACTS 

fallen  to  the  earth,  I  heard  a  voice  saying  unto  me  °in 
the  Hebrew  language,  Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest 
thou  me  ?  °it  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick  against  the  goad. 

15.  And  I  said.  Who  art  thou,  Lord?    And  the  Lord  said, 

16.  I  am  Jesus  whom  thou  persecutest.  °But  arise,  and 
stand  upon  thy  feet:  for  to  this  end  have  I  appeared 
unto  thee,  to  appoint  thee  °a  minister  and  a  witness  both 
°of  the  things  wherein  thou  hast  seen  me,  and  °of  the 

17.  things  wherein  I  will  appear  unto  thee ;  ^delivering  thee 
from  the  people,  and  °from  the  Gentiles,  unto  whom  I 

portant.  In  the  Hebrew  language.  This  detail,  which  is  peculiar 
to  the  present  passage,  is  in  harmony  with  the  well-known  fact  that 
one's  deepest  thoughts  and  spiritual  experiences  utter  themselves  in 
one's  mother  tongue.  It  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick  against  the  goad. 
His  state  of  helpless  blindness  on  the  earth  illustrated  this  word  that  it 
was  hard  to  kick  against  the  goad ;  that  is  to  say,  it  illustrated  the 
truth  that  his  course  regarding  Jesus  was  unreasoning  and  self-de- 
structive.   This  appears  to  be  the  force  of  the  proverb. 

16.  This  statement  of  the  heavenly  message  to  Paul  in  the  hour  of 
his  conversion  is  notably  fuller  than  in  either  of  the  two  preceding 
accounts.  It  is  also  noteworthy  in  this  particular  that  a  part  of  the 
thought  which  is  here  ascribed  to  Jesus  directly  is,  in  the  preceding 
versions,  communicated  to  him  through  Ananias  in  the  city.  Such 
a  divergence  as  this  last  in  the  two  narratives  ascribed  to  Paul  himself 
is  a  proof  (of  course,  not  absolutely  conclusive)  that  they  are  indeed 
from  him,  for  we  can  hardly  suppose  that  another  would  have  handled 
the  material  with  such  freedom.  But  arise.  Nothing  is  here  said 
about  going  into  Damascus,  and  therefore  nothing  about  a  communi- 
cation to  be  made  to  him  there.  A  minister  and  a  witness.  See 
22  :  15.  Of  the  things  wherein  thou  hast  seen  me.  That  is,  of  the 
experience  on  the  road  to  Damascus,  wherein  Paul  became  acquainted 
with  Jesus.  All  his  witnessing  was  really  based  on  this.  Of  the 
things  wherein  I  will  appear  unto  thee.  This  feature  is  not  found 
in  the  earlier  accounts.  Illustrations  of  what  is  meant  may  be  seen 
in  22  :  17  and  18  :  9. 

17.  Delivering  thee  from  the  people.  That  is,  the  Jews.  The  need 
of  this  deliverance  revealed  itself  to  Paul  immediately  in  Damascus 
(2  Cor.  II  :  32),  and  later  throughout  his  entire  missionary  career. 
The  promise  of  this  deliverance  is  of  course  involved  in  the  word 
of  Ananias  (9  :  15),  that  Paul  should  be  a  witness  to  the  Gentiles  and 
the  Jews.     From  the  Gentiles,  unto  whom  I  send  thee.    On  the  goal  of 

236 


ACTS 

1 8.  send  thee,  to  open  their  eyes,  that  they  may  turn  °from 
darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto 
God,  that  they  may  receive  remission  of  sins  and  an 
inheritance  among  them  that  are  ^sanctified  by  faith 

19.  in  me.     °Wherefore,  O  king  Agrippa,  I  was  not  dis- 

20.  obedient  unto  °the  heavenly  vision  :  but  declared  both 
to  them  of  °Damascus  first,  and  °at  Jerusalem,  and 
^throughout  all  the  country  of  Judaea,  and  also  to  the 
Gentiles,  that  they*  should  repent  and  turn  to  God, 


his  mission,  comp.  Gal.  i  :  16;  Acts  9 :  15.  The  following  descrip- 
tion of  the  aim  of  his  ministry  applies  both  to  his  work  among 
the  Jews  and  the  Gentiles. 

18.  From  darkness  to  light.  Paul's  fondness  for  this  figure  (e.g., 
2  Cor.  4  :  6;  Eph,  5:8)  to  express  the  thought  of  conversion  may 
have  been  due  to  his  own  experience  on  the  way  to  Damascus. 
Sanctified.  That  is,  relatively  to  their  former  state,  not  absolutely. 
See  Phil.  3  :  13. 

19.  Wherefore.  Because  of  the  character  of  the  experience  of 
which  he  has  spoken.  It  was  so  convincing,  so  glorious,  and  so  full 
of  promise,  that  he  was  constrained  to  obedience.  The  heavenly 
vision.  This  word,  while  pointing  to  a  purely  spiritual  element  in 
the  event  by  Damascus  and  though  suggesting  that  this  was  the 
element  of  chief  importance  in  Paul's  mind,  does  not  preclude  phys- 
ical elements.  It  takes  the  same  view  of  the  event  that  we  have  in 
Gal.  I  :  15. 

20.  This  verse  illustrates  his  obedience  to  the  heavenly  vision. 
Damascus  first.  This  activity  in  Damascus  is  implied  in  2  Cor.  11  :  32, 
^7,,  but  the  apostle  does  not  elsewhere  refer  to  it.  At  Jerusalem. 
There  is  a  possible  allusion  to  this  activity  in  i  Thess.  2:15  and  Rom. 
15  :  19.  On  the  time  of  this  preaching  see  Acts  9  :  26,  29.  Through- 
out all  the  country  of  Judaea.  Paul  tells  us  that  his  stay  in  Jerusalem 
on  his  return  from  Damascus  was  of  only  fifteen  days  (Gal.  i  :  18), 
and  that  from  there  he  went  to  the  regions  of  Syria  and  Cilicia,  being 
still  unknown  by  face  to  the  churches  of  Judaea  (Gal.  i  :  21-22). 
Thus  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  seems  to  exclude  the  possibility 
of  any  preaching  in  Judaea  by  Paul  between  his  first  visit  to  Jerusalem 
and  his  work  in  Syria  and  Cilicia.  The  Book  of  Acts  also  knows 
of  no  Judsean  preaching  by  Paul  aside  from  this  passage.  When 
Paul  and  Barnabas  came  up  from  Antioch  to  Jerusalem,  journeying 
through  Phoenicia  and  Samaria,  and  of  course  through  some  part  of 
Judaea,  it  was  not  on  an  evangelistic  tour.    They  simply  declared  the 

237 


ACTS 

21.  doing  works  worthy  of  repentance.  °For  this  cause 
the  Jews  seized  me  in  the  temple,  and  assayed  to  kill 

22.  me.  Having  therefore  obtained  °the  help  that  is  from 
God,  I  stand  unto  this  day  testifying  both  to  small 
and  great,  °saying  nothing  but  what  the  prophets  and 

23.  Moses  did  say  should  come;  °how  that  °the  Christ 
must  suffer,  and  how  °that  he  first  by  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead  should  proclaim  light  both  to  the  people 
and  to  the  Gentiles. 

24.  And  as  he  thus  made  his  defence,  Festus  saith  °with 
a  loud  voice,  Paul,  °thou  art  mad;  °thy  much  learning 


conversion  of  the  Gentiles  (15:3)..  It  seems  probable,  therefore,  that 
this  statement  about  Paul's  preaching  '  throughout  all  the  country 
of  Judaea  '  belongs  to  the  writer.  If  he  was  acquainted  with  Paul's 
Epistle  to  the  Romans,  he  might  have  inferred  it  from  15  :  19. 

21.  For  this  cause.  More  literally,  because  of  these  things,  i.e.y 
the  things  just  narrated  regarding  his  work  among  Gentiles  and  Jews, 
based  on  the  resurrection  of  Jesus. 

22.  The  help  that  is  from  God.  That  is  to  say,  the  promise  of 
vs.  17  had  been  fulfilled.  Saying  nothing  but  what  the  prophets,  etc. 
Paul  returns  to  the  thought  which  he  had  emphasized  at  the  outset 
of  his  defence,  that  his  preaching  was  in  vital  harmony  with  the  Jewish 
revelation. 

23.  How  that.  It  is  doubtful  whether  these  words  give  the  force 
of  the  Greek.  We  may  give  it  in  this  way  :  *  if ,  as  I  believe,  the  Christ 
is  to  sufifer,'  etc.  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  Paul  was  addressing 
a  Jew  who  was  held  to  be  especially  expert  in  matters  of  Jewish  law, 
and  also  that  the  Jews  as  a  whole  did  not  find  in  Moses  and  the 
prophets  the  doctrine  of  a  suffering  Messiah.  It  was  therefore  but  fair, 
not  to  say  tactful,  in  Paul  to  qualify  his  statement  that  he  had  said 
nothing  but  what  the  prophets  and  Moses  had  announced  as  some- 
time to  come  to  pass.  He  did  this  by  the  '  if.'  He  was  not  in  doubt 
himself,  and  no  one  was  in  danger  of  misunderstanding  him  on  this 
point.  The  Christ  must  suffer.  Comp.  i  Cor.  15  :  3.  That  he  first. 
Comp.  I  Cor.  15  :  4-8,  20,  23. 

24.  With  a  loud  voice.  The  fact  that  Paul  was  still  speaking  may 
in  part  explain  the  loud  voice  with  which  Festus  spoke.  He  wished 
to  make  himself  heard.  But  it  was  perhaps  also  due  in  equal  measure 
to  his  excited  state  of  mind  caused  by  Paul's  words.  Thou  art  mad. 
This  was  said  in  view  of  Paul's  teaching  that  Jesus  was  risen  from 

338 


ACTS 

25.  doth  turn  thee  to  madness.  But  Paul  saith,  I  am  not 
mad,  °most  excellent  Festus ;  but  speak  forth  words  of 

26.  truth  and  soberness.  For  °the  king  knoweth  of  these 
things,  unto  whom  also  I  speak  freely  :  for  I  am  per- 
suaded that  none  of  these  things  is  hidden  from  him; 

27.  for  this  hath  not  been  done  in  a  corner.     King  Agrippa, 
•   °believest  thou  the  prophets?    I  know  that  thou  be- 

28.  lievest.    And  Agrippa  said  unto  Paul,  °With  but  little 

the  dead  and  was  the  proclaimer  of  light  to  the  Gentiles  and  the  Jews. 
According  to  24 :  19  Festus  had  mentioned  this  belief  of  Paul  to  Agrippa. 
Therefore,  it  did  not  come  to  him  now  as  something  new,  that  it  should 
lead  him  to  interrupt  the  speaker  with  words  of  extreme  accusation. 
Possibly  he  may  have  been  as  much  moved  by  Paul's  way  of  putting 
the  doctrine  as  by  the  doctrine  itself,  or  he  may  have  sought  to  voice 
a  feeling  which  he  saw  on  the  face  of  others.  Thy  much  learning. 
This  expression  suggests,  what  we  might  otherwise  assume  to  have 
been  the  case,  that  Paul  spoke  a  long  time,  perhaps  an  hour  or  two. 
But  yet  more  important  than  the  length  of  his  address  for  impressing 
Festus  with  a  sense  of  his  learning  was  doubtless  the  method  of  Paul. 
This  probably  consisted  in  an  elaborate  proof  from  Scripture,  passage 
by  passage,  that  the  Messiah  should  die  and  rise  again. 

25.  Most  excellent  Festus.  The  prisoner's  courtesy  contrasts 
strongly  with  the  governor's  rude  interruption. 

26.  The  king  knoweth.  The  emphasis  on  these  words  suggests 
that  Festus  did  not  know  about  these  things.  Paul  assumes  that 
Agrippa  is  acquainted  at  least  with  the  general  facts  regarding  Chris- 
tianity, resting  his  assumption  on  their  public  character.  How, 
indeed,  could  it  have  been  otherwise  since  his  father  had  put  James, 
an  apostle,  to  death  and  imprisoned  Peter  ?  Then,  moreover,  in  all 
these  years  since  Pentecost  the  sanhedrin  had  been  intensely  agitated 
by  the  fact  of  Christianity,  and  Agrippa  could  not  be  acquainted  with 
the  leading  men  of  his  nation  without  hearing  of  it. 

27.  Believest  thou  the  prophets?  It  is  not  plain  whether  Paul 
expected  an  answer  to  this  question.  He  seems  to  have  answered  it 
himself  immediately,  but  of  course  there  may  have  been  an  instant's 
pause,  and  as  the  king  did  not  reply,  Paul  may  have  added  what  he 
did.  In  any  case,  the  question  was  only  preparatory  to  others. 
Paul  says  he  was  sure  that  the  king  believed  the  prophets,  but  what 
he  doubtless  wanted  to  know  was  whether  the  king  would  not  with 
him  find  in  the  events  of  Jesus'  death  and  resurrection  the  fulfilment 
of  the  prophets.  But  the  king  did  not  see  fit  to  enter  into  discussion 
with  Paul. 

239 


ACTS 

persuasion  °thou  wouldest  fain  make  me  a  Christian. 

29.  And  Paul  said,  I  would  to  God,  that  °whether  with 
little  or  with  much,  not  thou  only,  but  also  all  that 
hear  me  this  day,  might  become  such  as  I  am,  except 
these  bonds. 

30.  And  the  king  rose  up,  and  the  governor,  and  Bernice, 

31.  and  they  that  sat  with  them  :  and  when  they  had  with- 
drawn, they  spake  one  to  another,  saying,  °This  man 

32.  doeth  nothing  worthy  of  death  or  of  bonds.  And 
Agrippa  said  unto  Festus,  °This  man  might  have  been 
set  at  liberty,  °if  he  had  not  appealed  unto  Caesar. 


28.  With  but  little  persuasion.  The  Greek  clause  is  repeated  by 
Paul  in  vs.  29  and  is  there  translated  '  with  little.'  This  is  more  lit- 
eral, and  though  not  the  only  way  in  which  the  words  can  be  rendered, 
it  is  perhaps  the  best.  Thou  wouldest  fain  make  me  a  Christian.  Or, 
'  thou  persuadest  me  to  play  the  Christian.'  The  entire  remark 
of  Agrippa  was,  accordingly,  this  :  "  With  little  thou  persuadest  me 
to  play  the  Christian  1 "  This  may  be  interpreted  as  follows  :  "  You 
are  making  an  easy  matter  of  converting  me  to  Christianity  !  "  The 
action  of  the  king  in  rising  and  withdrawing  suits  this  interpretation. 
His  words  are  ironical,  his  act  one  of  indifference  towards  Paul's 
message.     If  it  touched  him  at  all  deeply,  he  did  not  show  it. 

29.  Whether  with  little  or  with  much.  Another  rendering  of 
this  clause  from  a  slightly  different  Greek  text  is  this  :  '  both  in  little 
and  in  large.'  The  thought  of  Paul  is  then  as  follows  :  "  I  would  to 
God  that  both  in  a  little  degree  and  in  a  large  degree,"  etc.  This 
is  a  play  on  the  words  of  Agrippa.  Paul  takes  the  same  phrase, 
but  puts  a  new  meaning  into  it.  If  the  last  words  of  Agrippa  mean 
'  to  play  the  Christian,'  the  reply  of  Paul  may  have  reference  to  that 
thought  when  he  says  '  in  a  little  degree  and  in  a  large  degree.'  He 
would  not  have  the  king  play  the  Christian  but  be  one. 

31.  This  man  doeth  nothing  worthy  of  death.  The  present  tense 
of  the  verb  is  significant.  The  speakers  do  not  express  an  opinion  in 
regard  to  any  of  the  specific  charges  which  had  been  brought  against 
Paul.     What  they  say  seems  rather  to  concern  his  character. 

32.  This  man  might  have  been  set  at  liberty.  Agrippa  expressed 
his  opinion,  although,  as  far  as  the  narrative  informs  us,  he  had  not 
heard  the  Jews'  side  of  the  case.  If  he  knew  that  the  Jews  charged 
Paul  with  being  a  mover  of  insurrections,  then  he  simply  ignored  this 
charge  in  view  of  the  impression  which  Paul  made  upon  him.     If 

240 


ACTS  27 : 4 

The  journey  from  Ccesarea  to  Rome,  27  :  1-28  :  16 

27.  And  °when  it  was  determined  °that  we  should  sail 
for  Italy,  they  delivered  Paul  and  certain  other  pris- 
oners to  °a  centurion  named  Julius,  of  °the  Augustan 

2.  band.  And  embarking  in  a  ship  °of  Adramyttium, 
which  was  about  to  sail  unto  the  places  on  the  coast  of 
Asia,  we  put  to  sea,   °Aristarchus,  a  Macedonian  of 

3.  Thessalonica,  being  with  us.  And  the  next  day  we 
touched  at  °Sidon  :  and  Julius  treated  Paul  kindly, 
and  gave  him  leave  to  go  °unto  his  friends  and  refresh 

4.  himself.    And  putting  to  sea  from  thence,  we  sailed 


he  had  not  appealed.  It  appears  that  since  Paul  had  spoken  the 
decisive  word  *  I  appeal  to  Csesar,'  no  other  course  was  open  to  Festus 
but  to  send  him  to  Caesar.  So  Paul  was  at  last  delivered  from  the 
'  disobedient  in  Judaea  '  (Rom.  15  :  31),  and  in  such  a  manner  that  his 
desire  to  see  Rome  and  to  have  some  fruit  there,  as  also  among  the 
other  Gentiles,  was  gratified. 

1.  When  it  was  determined.  The  general  decision  that  Paul 
should  be  sent  to  Caesar  was  reached  in  25  :  12,  but  the  present  verse 
refers  to  the  specific  carrying  out  of  the  decision.  That  we.  Here 
we  clearly  have  a  resumption  of  the  Diary,  which  was  dropped  at 
21  :  18.  A  centurion  named  Julius.  He  had  soldiers  with  him  (vss. 
31,  42),  doubtless  such  a  number  as  were  thought  a  perfectly  safe 
escort  for  the  prisoners.  Julius,  as  the  narrative  shows,  was  a  man 
fit  to  rank  with  the  other  N.T.  centurions.  Of  the  Augustan  band. 
The  honorary  designation  '  Augustan  '  was  perhaps  given  in  this  in- 
stance to  distinguish  the  cohort  of  Julius  from  others  in  Caesarea. 

2.  Adramyttium.  A  city  of  Mysia  at  the  head  of  the  gulf  of  the 
same  name.  The  ship  in  which  Paul  embarked  belonged  in  Adra- 
myttium and  was  probably  destined  for  that  port.  Aristarchus.  One 
of  the  seven  men  who  accompanied  Paul  to  Jerusalem  two  years 
before  this  time  (20  :  4).  Had  he  remained  with  Paul  in  the  interval  ? 
If  not,  when  and  why  had  he  come  to  Caesarea  from  his  distant  home 
in  Thessalonica  ?  Paul  speaks  of  him  in  a  letter  written  in  Rome  as 
a  '  fellow-prisoner  '  (Col.  4  :  10). 

3.  Sidon.  Here  mentioned  for  the  first  and  only  time  in  Acts. 
It  was  about  fifty-five  miles  north  from  Caesarea.  Unto  his  friends. 
Of  a  church  in  Sidon  we  have  no  other  N.T.  information  than  is  here 
involved.      Since  the  disciples  in  Sidon  are  spoken  of  as  Paul's 

R  241 


ACTS 

°under  the  lee  of  Cyprus,  because  the  winds  were 

5.  contrary.  And  when  we  had  sailed  across  the  sea  which 
is  off  Cilicia  and  Pamphylia,  we  came  to  °Myra,  a  city 

6.  of  Lycia.  And  there  the  centurion  found  °a  ship  of 
Alexandria  sailing  for  Italy;    and  °he  put  us  therein. 

7.  And  when  we  had  sailed  slowly  many  days,  and  were 
come  with  difficulty  over  against  °Cnidus,  °the  wind  not 
further  suffering  us,  °we  sailed  under  the  lee  of  Crete, 

8.  over  against  Salmone;    and  with  difficulty  coasting 

'  friends,'  it  seems  not  improbable  that  he  had  been  there  before, 
possibly  when  he  went  up  as  a  delegate  from  Antioch  to  Jerusalem 

(15 :  3). 

4.  Under  the  lee  of  Cyprus.  That  is,  through  the  sea  of  Cilicia. 
Had  it  not  been  for  contrary  winds,  they  would  have  passed  Cyprus 
on  their  right  hand. 

5.  Myra.  This  city  of  southern  Lycia  was  some  sixty  miles  due 
east  from  Patara,  at  which  city  Paul  had  stopped  on  his  last  voyage 
to  Jerusalem. 

6.  A  ship  of  Alexandria.  As  appears  later,  this  was  a  large  craft 
with  a  cargo  of  grain  destined  for  some  port  in  Italy.  He  put  us 
therein.  This  was,  of  course,  just  such  an  opportunity  as  was  expected 
when  the  prisoners  were  shipped  in  a  vessel  bound  for  the  coast  of 
Asia.  Instead  of  waiting  in  the  small  port  of  Caesarea  for  a  ship  bound 
for  Italy,  it  was  thought  better  to  seek  such  a  ship  in  one  of  the  larger 
Asiatic  ports. 

7.  Cnidus.  A  peninsula  with  a  city  of  the  same  name  on  the 
southwest  of  Caria.  When  the  ship  was  *  over  against  *  Cnidus,  it 
may  have  been  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  Myra ;  and  if  they 
were  '  many  days,'  in  coming  this  distance,  they  must  indeed  have 
sailed  *  slowly.'  The  wind  not  further  suffering  us.  In  ordinary 
circumstances  the  ship  would  have  continued  nearly  due  west,  and 
have  passed  Crete  on  the  north.  If,  however,  with  the  margin,  we 
translate  '  the  wind  not  suffering  us  to  get  there,'  then  the  thought  is 
that  the  ship  would  gladly  have  put  in  at  Cnidus,  perhaps  to  wait  for 
a  favorable  change  of  wind,  so  that  it  might  proceed  in  a  direct  course 
to  Italy.  We  know  of  no  reason  for  putting  in  at  Cnidus  unless  it 
was  contrary  winds.  We  sailed  under  the  lee  of  Crete.  That  is, 
they  turned  the  course  of  the  ship  and  sailed  a  little  west  of  south. 
After  they  had  passed  the  promontory  of  Salmone  at  the  east  end  of 
the  island,  the  high  mountains  of  Crete  broke  the  force  of  the  wind. 

8.  Fair  Havens.    This  harbor,  near  the  middle  of  the  south  coast, 

243 


ACTS 

along  it  we  came  unto  a  certain  place  called  °Fair 
Havens;   nigh  whereunto  was  the  city  of  °Lasea. 
9.       And  when  much  time  was  spent,  and  the  voyage 
was  now  dangerous,  because  °the  Fast  was  now  already 

10.  gone  by,  °Paul  admonished  them,  and  said  unto  them, 
Sirs,  °I  perceive  that  the  voyage  will  be  with  injury  and 
much  loss,  not  only  of  the  lading  and  the  ship,  but 

11.  also  of  our  Hves.  But  °the  centurion  gave  more  heed 
to  the  master  and  to  the  owner  of  the  ship,  than  to 

12.  those  things  which  were  spoken  by  Paul.  And  be- 
cause the  haven  was  not  commodious  to  winter  in, 
the  more  part  advised  to  put  to  sea  from  thence,  °if  by 

was  somewhat  more  than  one  hundred  miles  by  water  from  Salmone, 
and  therefore  as  their  sailing  was  '  with  difficulty,'  they  were  probably 
several  days  between  the  two  points,  Lasea.  This  town  was  about 
five  miles  to  the  east  of  Fair  Havens.     ' 

9.  The  Fast.  That  is,  the  Day  of  Atonement,  which  was  the  tenth 
day  of  the  seventh  month  of  the  Jewish  year,  corresponding  to  a  part 
of  our  September  and  October.  After  the  first  of  October  navigation 
of  the  Mediterranean  was  considered  dangerous.  Paul  admonished 
them.  It  is  suggestive  that  the  prisoner  had  an  opinion  and  that  he 
was  allowed  to  express  it  freely.  Paul's  counsel  was  naturally  based 
on  his  nautical  knowledge,  which  may  have  been  considerable,  as 
he  had  spent  years  on  the  coasts  of  the  ^gean  and  Mediterranean  and 
had  already  three  times  suffered  shipwreck  (2  Cor.  11  :  25). 

10.  I  perceive.  The  verb  implies  that  Paul  had  carefully  observed 
the  signs  of  the  season  and  had  weighed  the  evidence  bearing  on  the 
further  voyage.  In  one  particular  only  his  opinion  was  at  fault,  and 
was  later  changed  (vs.  24).  He  said  that  there  would  be  a  loss  of 
life,  but  the  narrative  tells  us  that  all  the  passengers  escaped  safe 
to  land  (vs.  44).  The  fact  that  Luke  ascribes  such  a  word  to  Paul  is 
good  evidence  that  he  did  indeed  speak  it.  We  may  suppose  that  it 
was  written  in  his  Diary  at  the  time,  and  though  the  result  proved 
it  erroneous,  he  let  it  stand. 

11.  The  centurion  gave  more  heed  to  the  master.  It  appears  that 
the  centurion  was  regarded  as  the  highest  authority  on  board;  the 
movements  of  the  ship  were  subject  to  his  direction.  It  was  natural 
that  the  centurion  gave  more  heed  to  the  sailing  master  and  the  owner 
of  the  ship  than  to  his  prisoner.  It  would  have  been  strange  had  he 
done  otherwise. 

243 


ACTS 

any  means  they  could  reach  Phoenix,  and  winter  there; 
which  is  a  haven  of   Crete,   looking  north-east  and 

13.  south-east.  And  °when  the  south  wind  blew  softly, 
supposing  that  they  had  obtained  their  purpose,  they 
weighed  anchor  and  sailed  along  Crete,  °close  in  shore. 

14.  But  after  no  long  time  there  beat  down  °from  it  a  tem- 

15.  pestuous  wind,  which  is  called  °Euraquilo  :  and  °when 
the  ship  was  caught,  and  could  not  face  the  wind,  we 

16.  gave  way  to  it,  and  were  driven.  And  running  under 
the  lee  of  a  small  island  called  °Cauda,  we  were  able, 

17.  with  difl&culty,  °to  secure  the  boat :  and  °when  they  had 


12.  If  by  any  means  they  could  reach  Phoenix.  Plainly  it  was 
regarded  as  a  dangerous  attempt,  but  they  thought  it  less  dangerous 
than  to  risk  the  ship  in  the  harbor  of  Fair  Havens.  If  Phoenix  is 
identified  with  the  modern  Sutro,  it  was  about  forty  miles  northwest 
from  Fair  Havens.  This  harbor  opens  or  '  looks  '  toward  the  north- 
east and  southeast.  The  Greek  says  that  it  looks  '  down  the  south- 
west wind '  and  *  down  the  northwest  wind.'  Now  if  '  down '  is  taken 
with  the  wind,  the  harbor  looked  northeast  and  southeast;  if  against 
the  wind,  it  looked  southwest  and  northwest.  The  former  construc- 
tion suits  the  harbor  of  Sutro. 

13.  When  the  south  wind  blew  softly.  They  had  been  driven  out 
of  their  course  by  a  northwest  wind,  and  the  coming  up  of  a  south  wind 
seemed  to  indicate  a  change  of  weather,  and  so  gave  them  hope. 
Close  in  shore.  Or,  possibly,  '  closer  to  the  shore,'  i.e.,  closer  than 
they  had  kept  between  Salmone  and  Fair  Havens. 

14.  From  it.  That  is,  from  the  island,  whose  mountains  rise  to 
^  height  of  seven  thousand  feet  and  promote  the  formation  of  violent 
wind  storms  in  their  vicinity.  Euraquilo.  This  is  probably  a  term 
that  was  used  (perhaps  by  Roman  seamen)  to  denote  a  northeast 
wind. 

15.  When  the  ship  was  caught.  Judging  from  the  description  of 
the  wind  that  '  caught '  them  and  from  the  location  of  the  next-men- 
tioned land,  it  would  appear  that  the  ship  had  passed  Cape  Matala 
a  few  miles  west  of  Fair  Havens,  and  was  out  in  the  Gulf  of  Messara. 

16.  Cauda.  Southwest  from  Cape  Matala,  and  about  as  far  from 
Fair  Havens  as  it  is  from  that  place  to  Phoenix.  To  secure  the  boat. 
According  to  vs.  30,  this  ship's  boat  appears  to  have  had  a  capacity 
sufficient  to  accommodate  all  the  sailors,  or  the  most  of  them. 

17.  When  they  had  hoisted  it  up.    That  is,  to  save  it  from  the 

244 


ACTS  27 :  20 

hoisted  it  up,  they  used  helps,  °under-girding  the  ship ; 
and,  fearing  lest  they  should  be  °cast  upon  the  Syrtis, 

18.  °they  lowered  the  gear,  and  so  were  driven.     And  as  we 
laboured  exceedingly  with  the  storm,  °the  next  day  °they 

19.  began  to  throw  the  freight  overboard;    and  the  third 
day  they  cast  out  °with  their  own  hands  the  tackling 

20.  of  the  ship.    And  when  °neither  sun  nor  stars  shone 
upon  us  for  many  days,  and  no  small  tempest  lay  on 

violence  of  the  waves.  Under-girding  the  ship.  It  seems  more  prob- 
able that  this  was  by  passing  cables  around  the  ship  from  stem  to 
stern  than  by  passing  them  under  the  keel.  It  is  difficult  to  believe 
that  this  latter  thing  could  have  been  done  in  a  great  storm.  Cast 
upon  the  Syrtis,  A  wind  that  drove  the  ship  from  Cape  Matala  to 
Cauda  would,  if  it  continued,  and  if  the  ship  was  altogether  helpless, 
have  driven  it  upon  the  Syrtis,  —  the  dangerous  African  coast  west 
of  Cyrene.  They  lowered  the  gear.  Their  purpose  is  clear,  but  not 
their  act.  They  wished  to  avoid  the  Syrtis,  and  so  either  tried  to 
slacken  the  speed  of  the  ship  or  to  alter  their  course.  If  by  '  gear ' 
is  meant  the  mast  and  sails,  the  lowering  of  these  would  obviously 
retard  their  motion,  but  not  alter  their  course.  Their  direction  was 
indeed  changed  after  passing  Cauda,  —  changed  once  at  least,  —  for 
instead  of  falling  upon  the  Syrtis  as  they  feared  would  be  the  case 
owing  to  the  northeast  wind,  they  finally  reached  land  at  Malta  north 
of  west  from  Cauda;  but  whether  their  course  was  changed  by  a  change 
of  wind  or  by  nautical  means  the  text  does  not  appear  to  determine. 

18.  The  next  day.  That  is,  the  second  after  weighing  anchor  at 
Fair  Havens.  They  began  to  throw  overboard.  Just  what  they  first 
sacrificed  is  not  said.  They  seem  to  have  kept  their  cargo  of  wheat 
intact  for  some  days  longer  (vs.  38). 

19.  With  their  own  hands.  The  writer  is  apparently  speaking 
of  the  same  persons  who,  the  day  before,  had  begun  to  throw  things 
overboard,  most  naturally  the  sailors.  Now  when  he  says  that  they 
with  their  own  hands  are  again  throwing  out  something,  the  expression 
seems  to  have  no  meaning  unless  what  was  thrown  out  was  their  own, 
or  at  least  something  in  which  they  had  a  special  interest.  This 
seems  to  make  the  marginal  translation  *  furniture  '  preferable  to 
*  tackling,'  and  to  justify  us  in  supposing  that  this  *  furniture '  in- 
cluded the  sailors'  possessions. 

20.  Neither  sun  nor  stars  shone  upon  us.  Hence  since  sun  and 
stars  were  their  only  compass,  they  could  not  tell  whether  their  course 
had  been  changed.  The  last  that  they  knew  of  their  direction,  they 
were  driving  toward  the  Syrtis,  and  so  they  would  be  apprehensive 

245 


27:21  ACTS 

M5,  all  hope  that  we  should  be  saved  °was  now  taken 

21.  away.  And  °when  they  had  been  long  without  food, 
then  Paul  stood  forth  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  said, 
Sirs,  °ye  should  have  hearkened  unto  me,  and  not  have 
set  sail  from  Crete,  and  have  gotten  this  injury  and 

22.  loss.  And  now  I  exhort  you  to  be  of  good  cheer  : 
for  °there  shall  be  no  loss  of  life  among  you,  but  only 

23.  of  the  ship.  For  °there  stood  by  me  this  night  an 
angel  of  the  God  whose  I  am,  whom  also  I  serve, 

24.  saying.  Fear  not,  Paul;  °thou  must  stand  before  Cae- 
sar :  and  lo,  °God  hath  granted  thee  all  them  that  sail 

25.  with  thee.  Wherefore,  sirs,  be  of  good  cheer:  for  I  be- 
lieve God,  that  it  shall  be  even  so  as  it  hath  been  spoken 

26.  unto  me.  Howbeit  °we  must  be  cast  upon  a  certain 
island. 

day  and  night  lest  they  should  strike  this  dangerous  coast.  "Was  now 
taken  away.  The  Greek  is  more  expressive,  for  it  pictures  a  gradual 
failing  of  hope  from  day  to  day  until  there  was  none  left. 

21.  When  they.  There  is  a  suggestion  here  that  Paul  and  his 
companions  had  not  fasted,  though  in  the  preceding  verse  the  writer 
seems  to  include  himself  among  those  whose  hope  was  gone.  Ye  should 
have  hearkened  unto  me.  In  reminding  the  officers  and  men  of  his 
advice  not  to  leave  Fair  Havens,  we  may  suppose  that  Paul's  aim  was 
not  so  much  to  rebuke  them  regarding  the  past  as  to  awaken  confi- 
dence in  what  he  was  about  to  say. 

22.  There  shall  be  no  loss  of  life  among  you.  The  common  ex- 
pectation was  that  all  would  perish. 

23.  There  stood  by  me  this  night  an  angel.  This  was  in  keeping 
with  Paul's  former  experiences.  In  critical  hours  he  had  received 
heavenly  communications  {e.g.,  18  :  9;    23  :  11). 

24.  Thou  must  stand  before  Caesar.  Comp.  23  :  11.  The  word 
of  the  angel  was  not  a  repetition  of  the  decision  of  Festus,  that  Paul 
should  be  transferred  to  Caesar's  court;  it  was  rather  an  assurance 
that,  notwithstanding  the  present  peril,  this  decision  was  to  be 
actualized.  God  hath  granted  thee.  This  word  refers,  of  course,  to 
the  physical  deliverance  of  those  who  were  with  Paul.  On  the  con- 
sciousness which  these  words  reflect,  comp.  i  Cor.  15  :  10;  2  Cor. 
II  :  5;  Gal.  6  :  17.  They  are  not  the  utterance  of  egotism  but  rather 
of  a  conviction,  based  on  a  very  wonderful  experience  in  the  ministry 

246 


ACTS 

27.  But  when  °the  fourteenth  night  was  come,  as  we  were 
driven  to  and  fro  in  °the  sea  of  Adria,  about  midnight 
the  sailors  °surmised  that  they  were  drawing  near  to 

28.  some  country;  and  they  sounded,  and  found  °twenty 
fathoms  :   and  after  a  Httle  space,  they  sounded  again, 

29.  and  found  fifteen  fathoms.  And  fearing  lest  haply  we 
should  be  °cast  ashore  on  rocky  ground,  they  let  go 
four  anchors  °from  the  stern,  and  wished  for  the  day. 

30.  And  as  the  sailors  were  seeking  to  flee  out  of  the  ship, 
and  had  lowered  the  boat  into  the  sea,  under  colour 
as  though  they  would  lay  out  anchors  from  the  fore- 

31.  ship,  Paul  said  to  the  centurion  and  to  the  soldiers, 

of  the  Gospel,  that  he  was  yet  to  bear  witness  of  great  value  to  the 
kingdom  of  God. 

26.  We  must  be  cast  upon  a  certain  island.  That  is  to  say,  their 
deliverance  is  not  to  be  by  a  safe  arrival  at  their  destined  port.  They 
are  to  be  shipwrecked. 

27.  The  fourteenth  night.  That  is,  from  Fair  Havens.  Driven 
to  and  fro.  Better,  '  driven  on.'  The  last  reference  to  their  course 
was  that  they  were  being  driven  (vs.  17),  and  the  next  verse  shows 
them  steadily  approaching  land,  not  beaten  back  and  forth.  The 
sea  of  Adria.  The  ancient  geographies  so  designated  that  part  of  the 
Mediterranean  which  lies  between  Sicily  and  southern  Italy  on  the 
west  and  Crete  and  Greece  on  the  east.  The  term  must  be  taken  in 
a  broad  sense  if  it  is  supposed  that  Luke  knew  at  the  time  where  they 
were.  They  had  feared  the  Syrtis,  but  now  that  so  many  days  had 
passed  without  falling  upon  it  they  might  infer  that  they  had  been 
driving  west  rather  than  southwest.  Surmised  that  they  were  draw- 
ing near  to  some  country.  More  literally,  that  some  country  was 
drawing  near  to  them.  Possibly  an  odor  from  the  land,  or  a  faint 
sound  of  breakers,  reached  them. 

28.  Twenty  fathoms.  That  is,  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred 
and  twenty  feet. 

29.  Cast  ashore  on  rocky  ground.  Or,  simply,  *  cast  upon  rocky 
places,'  whether  upon  the  shore  or  at  a  distance  from  it.  From  the 
stem.  If  they  had  cast  them  from  the  prow,  the  ship  would  have 
swung  around  with  the  wind,  and  then  in  case  they  wished  to  con- 
tinue their  course  at  daylight,  they  would  have  been  obliged  to  right 
their  ship. 

31.  Obviously  he  did  not  consider  the  angelic  assurance  as  an 
247 


ACTS 

3  2 .  Except  these  abide  in  the  ship,  ye  cannot  be  saved.  Then 
the  soldiers  cut  away  the  ropes  of  the  boat,  and  let 

33.  her  fall  off.  And  while  the  day  was  coming  on,  Paul 
°besought  them  all  to  take  some  food,  saying,  This  day 
is  the  fourteenth  day  that  ye  wait  and  continue  fasting, 

34.  °having  taken  nothing.  Wherefore  I  beseech  you  to 
take  some  food  :  for  °this  is  for  your  safety  :  for  there 
shall  not  a  hair  perish  from  the  head  of  any  of  you. 

35.  And  when  he  had  said  this,  and  had  taken  bread,  he 
°gave  thanks  to  God  in  the  presence  of  all  :    and  he 

36.  brake  it,  and  began  to  eat.     Then  were  they  all  of  good 

37.  cheer,  and  themselves  also  took  food.  And  we  were  in 
all  in  the  ship  °two  hundred  threescore  and  sixteen  souls. 

38.  And  when  they  had  eaten  enough,  °they  lightened  the 

39.  ship,  throwing  out  the  wheat  into  the  sea.    And  when  it 

excuse  for  the  neglect  of  any  human  means  that  could  be  used  to  make 
their  escape  from  the  sea. 

;}^.  Besought.  Or,  *  was  beseeching,'  as  the  act  continued  some 
time.  At  length  he  caused  them  all  to  be  of  good  cheer.  Having 
taken  nothing.  Probably  not  to  be  understood  absolutely,  but  as  a 
strong  expression  of  their  general  and  continuous  neglect  of  their 
regular  meals. 

34.  This  is  for  your  safety.  Will  conduce  to  your  deliverance. 
The  events  of  the  morning,  when  they  had  to  swim  for  their  lives, 
showed  the  wisdom  of  Paul's  counsel. 

35.  Gave  thanks  to  God.  For  food,  and  doubtless  also  for  his 
gracious  assurance  of  deliverance  out  of  the  present  peril.  Paul  was 
probably  sure  that  even  his  pagan  hearers  (and  all  but  three  on  ship- 
board were  pagan)  would  feel  sympathy  with  such  a  simple  religious 
act. 

36.  From  this  hour  at  least,  if  not  before,  the  Jewish  prisoner  from 
Caesarea  was  manifestly  the  leading  man  on  board  the  ship. 

37.  Two  hundred  threescore  and  sixteen  souls.  Only  a  little 
before  this  time  Josephus  sailed  for  Rome  in  a  ship  which  he  says 
carried  about  six  hundred  persons.     See  Life,  3. 

38.  They  lightened  the  ship.  This  was  done  because  the  sound- 
ings had  shown  that  they  were  coming  to  land,  and  they  wished  to 
draw  as  little  water  as  possible. 

39.  They  knew  not  the  land.    The  Greek  suggests  that  they  could 

248 


ACTS 

was  day,  °they  knew  not  the  land  :  but  they  perceived 
a  certain   bay  with   a  beach,  and  they  took   counsel 

40.  °whether  they  could  drive  the  ship  upon  it.  And  casting 
off  the  anchors,  °they  left  them  in  the  sea,  at  the  same 
time  °loosing  the  bands  of  the  rudders;  and  °hoisting 
up  the  foresail  to  the  wind,  they  made  for  the  beach. 

41.  But  lighting  upon  °a  place  where  two  seas  met,  they  ran 
the  vessel  aground;  and  the  foreship  struck  and  re- 
mained unmoveable,  but  the  stern  began  to  break  up 

42.  by  the  violence  of  the  waves.  And  the  soldiers'  counsel 
was  °to  kill  the  prisoners,  lest  any  of  them  should  swim 

43.  out,  and  escape.  But  the  centurion,  °desiring  to  save 
Paul,  stayed  them  from  their  purpose ;  and  commanded 
that  they  which  could  swim  should  cast  themselves 


not  recognize  the  land  though  they  tried  to  do  so.  Whether  they 
could  drive  the  ship  upon  it.  If  they  could  do  this,  they  might  pos- 
sibly save  their  ship,  and  their  counsel  was  doubtless  interesting  to 
Paul,  who  had  before  expressed  the  conviction  that  the  ship  would 
be  lost  (vs.  22). 

40.  They  left  them  in  the  sea.  This  circumstance  may  suggest 
that  they  had  very  little  hope  of  saving  the  ship.  The  sea  was  rough, 
and  it  would  have  taken  time  to  hoist  the  four  anchors,  and  therefore, 
as  the  case  was  critical,  they  disposed  of  them  in  the  easiest  manner. 
Loosing  the  bands  of  the  rudders.  That  is,  of  course,  that  they  might 
use  them  in  directing  the  ship.  The  ancient  Greek  and  Roman  ships 
had  two  rudders.  Hoisting  up  the  foresail.  That  they  might  not 
drift,  but  might  be  able  to  direct  the  ship.  The  existence  of  this 
piece  of  rigging,  whatever  it  was,  supports  the  interpretation  of  vs. 
19  given  above. 

41.  A  place  where  two  seas  met.  This  may  have  been  a  bank 
covered  by  water  and  having  deep  water  on  either  side.  The  beach 
which  they  had  seen  as  morning  dawned  they  were  not  able  to  reach. 

42.  To  kill  the  prisoners.  Since,  if  they  escaped,  the  soldiers 
must  answer  for  them  with  their  own  lives. 

43.  Desiring  to  save  Paul.  It  is  not  likely  that  Julius  gave  this 
as  a  reason  to  the  soldiers,  that  he  wanted  to  save  Paul,  but  his  treat- 
ment of  the  prisoner  had  probably  been  such,  so  considerate  and 
kindly,  that  Luke  could  safely  infer  the  motive  of  his  action.  Get 
first  to  the  land.     From  there  they  might  be  able  to  aid  those  who  were 

249 


ACTS 

44.  overboard,  and  °get  first  to  the  land :  and  the  rest,  some 
on  planks,  and  some  on  other  things  from  the  ship. 
And  so  it  came  to  pass,  that  they  all  escaped  safe  to 
the  land. 

28.       And  when  we  were  escaped,  °then  we  knew  that 

2.  the  island  was  called  °Melita.  And  °the  barbarians 
shewed  us  no  common  kindness  :  for  they  kindled  a 
fire,  and  received  us  all,  because  of   the  present  rain, 

3.  and  °because  of  the  cold.  But  °when  Paul  had  gathered 
a  bundle  of  sticks,  and  laid  them  on  the  fire,  a  viper 
came  out  by  reason  of  the  heat,  and  fastened  on  his 

4.  hand.  And  when  the  barbarians  saw  the  beast  hang- 
ing from  his  hand,  °they  said  one  to  another,  °No  doubt 


on  planks  and  on  pieces  of  the  wreckage  of  the  ship.  With  2  Cor. 
II  :  25  in  view  we  may  hold  that  Paul  did  not  go  ashore  on  a  plank, 
but  was  one  of  the  first  who  swam  out. 

1.  Then  we  knew.  Or,  '  ascertained.'  The  source  of  their  knowl- 
edge was  probably  the  people  mentioned  in  the  following  verse. 
Melita.  The  modern  Malta,  a  small  island  lying  between  fifty  and 
sixty  miles  south  of  Sicily.  The  exact  spot  where  the  ship  of  Alex- 
andria was  wrecked  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  bay  on  the  northeast 
part  of  the  island.  Malta  had  long  been  a  possession  of  Rome,  and 
was  politically  a  part  of  the  province  of  Sicily. 

2.  The  barbarians.  So  called  because  not  a  Greek-speaking 
people.  They  were  of  Phoenician  origin,  and  may  have  come  across 
from  Carthage.  Because  of  the  cold.  This  is  an  indication  that  the 
wind  was  still  from  the  northeast,  as  it  had  been  since  the  ship  left 
Crete. 

3.  When  Paul  had  gathered  a  bundle  of  sticks.  It  seems  obvious 
that  Paul  was  allowed  a  large  degree  of  liberty,  if  not  complete  free- 
dom from  surveillance. 

4.  They  said  one  to  another.  This  is  one  of  the  many  passages 
in  the  Diary  which  reveal  the  eye-witness.  The  barbarians  probably 
did  not  speak  for  Paul  to  hear,  but  the  opinion  was  passed  around 
among  themselves,  and  Luke  may  have  overheard  it.  No  doubt  this 
man  is  a  murderer.  A  bit  of  their  philosophy  of  life.  A  great  per- 
sonal calamity  was  evidence  of  some  great  sin.  Death  from  the  viper's 
bite  —  and  they  expected  that  Paul  would  die  —  was  a  suitable  end 
for  a  murderer.     It  is  possible  that  Paul  was  recognized  in  some  way 

250 


ACTS  28:8 

this  man  is  a  murderer,  whom,  though  he  hath  escaped 
from  the  sea,  yet  °Justice  hath  not  suffered  to  live. 

5.  Howbeit  °he  shook  off  the  beast  into  the  fire,  and  took 

6.  no  harm.  But  they  expected  that  he  would  have 
swollen,  or  fallen  down  dead  suddenly :  but  when  they 
were  long  in  expectation,  and  beheld  nothing  amiss 
come  to  him,  they  changed  their  minds,  and  °said  that 
he  was  a  god. 

7.  Now  in  the  neighbourhood  of  that  place  were  lands 
belonging  to  °the  chief  man  of  the  island,  named  Pub- 
lius;    °who  received  us,  and  entertained  us  three  days 

8.  courteously.  And  it  was  so,  that  the  father  of  PubHus 
lay  sick  of  fever  and  dysentery  :  °unto  whom  Paul  en- 


as  a  prisoner,  and  this  may  have  helped  the  barbarians  to  their 
conclusion.  Justice  hath  not  suffered  to  live.  '  Justice'  probably 
denoted  one  of  their  divinities.  The  form  '  hath  not  suffered '  is 
used  because  they  regard  the  bite  of  the  viper  as  fatal.  They  thought 
that  a  sentence  of  death  had  gone  forth  against  Paul,  though  it  was 
not  yet  executed.  The  circumstance  that  no  deadly  viper  is  now 
found  on  Malta  is,  of  course,  no  refutation  of  the  truth  of  Luke's  story. 
There  may  have  been  such  vipers  there  in  Paul's  time. 

5.  He  shook  off  the  beast.  Paul  had  been  delivered  from  so  many 
great  perils  that  he  was  not  disturbed  by  this  one. 

6.  Said  that  he  was  a  god.  This  is  proof  both  of  their  belief  that 
nothing  human  could  withstand  the  viper's  poison  and  also  that  the 
working  of  miracles  pertained  to  the  gods.     Comp.  14 :  4. 

7.  The  chief  man.  That  is,  probably,  the  head  official  of  the  isl- 
and, who  was  himself  subject  to  the  proconsul  of  Sicily.  The  word 
used  by  Luke  in  speaking  of  Publius  is  found  in  an  inscription  which 
was  discovered  on  the  island,  where  it  appears  to  denote  the  highest 
official.  Who  received  us.  There  is  no  reason  for  limiting  the  '  us.' 
It  is  to  be  taken  as  including  all  the  shipwrecked  people.  It  has 
been  suggested  that  Publius,  as  a  Roman  official,  may  have  been  in 
duty  bound  to  look  after  Julius  and  his  company,  yet  it  was  hardly 
his  duty  to  receive  them  into  his  own  house,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
sailors  and  the  passengers. 

8.  Unto  whom  Paul  entered  in.  The  healing  of  the  father  of  Pub- 
lius was  similar  to  the  cures  wrought  by  Jesus.  It  naturally  pre- 
supposes that  Paul  had  become  acquainted  with  the  man,  and  that 

251 


ACTS 

tered  in,  and  prayed,  and  laying  his  hands  on  him 

9.   healed  him.     And  when  this  was  done,  the  rest  also 

which   had  diseases  in  the  island  came,   and   °were 

10.  cured  :  who  also  °honoured  us  with  many  honours; 
and  when  we  sailed,  they  put  on  board  such  things  as 
we  needed. 

11.  And  °af  ter  three  months  °we  set  sail  in  a  ship  of  Alex- 
andria, which  had  wintered  in  the  island,  °whose  sign 

12.  was  The  Twin  Brothers.    And  touching  at  °Syracuse, 


this  one,  through  his  intercourse  with  Paul,  had  faith  to  be  healed,  — 
faith  in  God  and  in  Paul  as  his  messenger. 

9.  Were  cured.  In  the  same  way  doubtless  and  under  the  same 
conditions  that  obtained  in  the  case  of  the  father  of  Publius. 

10.  Honoured  us.  The  use  of  '  us  '  here  is  by  no  means  sufficient 
evidence  that  Luke  had  employed  his  medical  skill  in  the  healing  of 
the  sick  in  Malta.  We  obviously  have  no  right  to  limit  the  word  to 
Paul  and  Luke.  The  honors  overflowed  upon  those  with  Paul  simply 
because  they  were  associated  with  him.  What  these  marks  of  honor 
were,  we  may  probably  judge,  at  least  in  part,  by  the  last  clause  of  the 
verse. 

11.  After  three  months.  The  exact  time  of  their  sailing  from 
Malta,  like  that  of  their  departure  from  Caesarea,  and  later  from  Fair 
Havens,  cannot  be  determined.  We  may  say  that  there  is  consider- 
able reason  for  putting  it  either  in  January  or  February.  Luke 
says  nothing  of  evangelistic  work  by  Paul  in  Malta,  but  it  is  difficult 
to  believe  that  he  spent  three  months  there  and  worked  bodily  cures 
without  preaching  Christ,  and  if  he  preached  Christ,  we  are  justified 
by  the  story  of  his  entire  Christian  career  in  assuming  that  he  won 
disciples.  We  set  sail.  This  *  we  '  includes  at  least  Julius  with  his 
soldiers  and  prisoners,  also  Luke  and  Aristarchus.  What  became  of 
the  sailors  and  the  numerous  passengers  of  the  wrecked  vessel, 
whether  they  also  went  forward  to  Puteoli,  we  do  not  know.  Whose 
sign.  It  is  possible  that  the  ship  bore  on  its  prow  an  inscription  to 
'The  Twin  Brothers,'  Castor  and  Pollux,  the  tutelary  divinities  of 
sailors,  or  that  it  had  a  statue  of  them  as  its  '  sign.'  Again  we  have 
a  detail  that  bespeaks  the  eye-witness. 

12.  Syracuse.  About  ninety  miles  northeast  from  Malta.  When 
Paul  was  there,  this  Greek  city,  which  had  ruled  itself  for  five  cen- 
turies, had  long  been  under  Roman  rule,  having  been  conquered  in 
212  B.C.  Apparently  there  were  no  Christian  disciples  to  be  found 
in  Syracuse,  for  though  the  ship  stayed  there  three  days  and  though 

252 


ACTS 

13.  we  tarried  there  three  days.  And  from  thence  we 
made  a  circuit,  and  arrived  at  °Rhegium  :  and  after 
one  day  a  south  wind  sprang  up,  and  on  the  second 

14.  day  we  came  to  °Puteoli  :  °where  we  found  brethren, 
and  were  intreated  °to  tarry  with  them  seven  days  : 

15.  °and  so  we  came  to  Rome.  And  from  thence  the 
brethren,  °when  they  heard  of  us,  came  to  meet  us  as 
far  as  °The  Market  of  Appius,  and  °The  Three  Tav- 
erns :  whom  when  Paul  saw,  he  thanked  God,  and 
°took  courage. 

Paul  was  probably  allowed  to  go  ashore,  no  reference  is  made  to 
brethren,  as,  e.g.,  in  vs.  14. 

13.  Rhegium.  The  capital  of  Lucania  and  Brittium  in  Italy, 
opposite  Messina  in  Sicily,  about  sixty  miles  in  a  straight  line  from 
Syracuse.  It  is,  however,  uncertain  whether  they  went  in  a  direct 
course.  If  the  ship  '  made  a  circuit,'  as  one  Greek  reading  signifies, 
it  was  probably  due  to  unfavorable  winds.  Puteoli.  A  city  due 
north  from  Malta  and  about  two  hundred  and  twelve  miles  from 
Rhegium.  It  was  the  principal  port  of  southern  Italy,  and  the  usual 
terminus  of  the  sea  voyage  for  travellers  who  came  from  the  south  and 
east  bound  for  Rome. 

14.  Where  we  found  brethren.  The  last  they  had  seen  were  those 
of  Sidon  (27  :  3).  There  had  long  been  a  Jewish  colony  in  Puteoli, 
and  by  some  member  of  this  the  new  religion  may  have  been  brought 
thither.  To  tarry  with  them  seven  days.  The  fact  that  Julius  al- 
lowed his  prisoners  to  remain  here  a  week  is  an  evidence  of  his  deep 
respect  for  Paul,  since  there  is  no  indication  that  he  himself  needed  to 
stop  in  Puteoli.  And  so  we  came  to  Rome.  That  is,  after  a  stay  of  a 
week  in  Puteoli,  or  the  word  '  so  '  may  refer  to  the  completion  of  the 
journey  as  a  whole.  From  Puteoli  to  Rome  the  company  went  by 
land,  a  distance  of  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles,  but  whether 
they  journeyed  on  foot  or  rode  is  not  indicated. 

15.  When  they  heard  of  us.  Some  one  had  borne  to  Rome  the 
news  of  Paul's  arrival,  while  he  was  still  at  Puteoli.  The  Market  of 
Appius.  Forty  miles  from  Rome.  Evidently  there  were  people  in 
the  church  at  Rome  who  were  eager  to  see  and  honor  the  man  who  had 
written  to  them  from  Corinth  some  two  and  a  half  years  before. 
The  Three  Taverns.  A  second  group  of  disciples  awaited  Paul's 
approach  at  this  place,  thirty  miles  from  Rome.  Took  courage. 
Whatever  fate  awaited  him  as  a  prisoner  sent  up  by  Festus,  he  felt 
now  that  he  was  to  meet  it  among  dear  friends. 

253 


ACTS 

i6.      And  when  we  entered  into  Rome,  Paul  was  suffered 
°to  abide  by  himself  °with  the  soldier  that  guarded 
him. 

Paul  in  Rome,  28: 17-31 

17.  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  °after  three  days  he  called 
together  those  that  were  °the  chief  of  the  Jews  :  and 
when  they  were  come  together,  he  said  unto  them, 
I,  brethren,  though  I  had  done  nothing  against  the 
people,  or  the  customs  of  our  fathers,  yet  °was  delivered 
prisoner  from    Jerusalem  into  the  hands  of   the  Ro- 

18.  mans  :  who,  when  they  had  examined  me,  °desired  to 
set  me  at  liberty,  because  there  was  no  cause  of  death 


16.  To  abide  by  himself.  This  special  favor  to  Paul  may  have 
been  due  to  the  character  of  the  statement  from  Festus  (see  26  :  31), 
fxjssibly  also  in  some  degree  to  the  report  of  Julius,  who  could  have 
shown  good  ground  why  Paul  should  be  treated  with  consideration. 
With  the  soldier.  It  appears  from  vs.  20  that  Paul  was  chained  to  the 
soldier.  This  continued  to  be  the  case  months  later  when  Paul  wrote 
to  the  Philippians  (see  Phil,  i  :  13-14),  Colossians  (see  Col.  4 :  18), 
and  Philemon  (see  vss.  10,  13). 

17.  After  three  days.  It  would  appear  that  Paul  called  the  Jews 
at  the  earliest  possible  hour.  Three  days  might  easily  be  taken  up 
with  the  securing  of  rooms,  the  meeting  of  Christian  brethren,  and  the 
getting  into  contact  with  the  chief  Jews  of  the  city.  The  chief  of 
the  Jews.  Naturally  those  who  were  leaders  in  the  religious  life  of 
the  Jewish  colony,  as  rulers  of  the  synagogue  and  other  officers.  The 
decree  of  Claudius  did  not  remain  long  in  force  (18  :  2).  The  Jews 
had  returned,  and  again  constituted  a  numerous  colony.  Was  de- 
livered prisoner.  Paul's  words  to  the  Jews  are  an  explanation  and 
defence.  He  is  in  Rome  a  prisoner  though  conscious  of  being  guilt- 
less, and  he  wishes  to  put  his  case  before  his  countrymen  in  its  true 
light,  in  order  that,  having  cleared  himself  of  blame,  he  may,  though  a 
prisoner,  be  able  to  bring  to  them  the  message  of  Christ. 

18.  Desired  to  set  me  at  liberty.  The  fact  that  Felix  did  not  de- 
liver Paul  to  the  Jews  was  evidence  that  he  saw  no  cause  of  death  in 
him,  and  as  for  Festus  he  explicitly  declared  as  much  (25  :  25). 
Since,  then,  neither  procurator  found  any  fault  in  Paul,  he  must  infer 
that  they  desired  to  set  him  at  liberty. 

254 


I 


ACTS 

19.  in  me.  But  °when  the  Jews  spake  against  it,  I  was 
constrained  to  appeal  unto  Caesar;    not  that  I  had 

20.  aught  to  accuse  my  nation  of.  °For  this  cause  there- 
fore did  I  intreat  you  °to  see  and  to  speak  with  me: 
for  °because  of  the  hope  of  Israel  I  am  bound  with 

21.  this  chain.  And  they  said  unto  him,  °We  neither 
received  letters  from  Judaea  concerning  thee,  nor  did 
any  of  the  brethren  come  hither  and  report  or  speak 

22.  any  harm  of  thee.  But  °we  desire  to  hear  of  thee  what 
thou  thinkest :  for  as  concerning  this  sect,  it  is  known 
to  us  that  ^everywhere  it  is  spoken  against. 

23.  And  when  they  °had  appointed  him  a  day,  they 

19.  When  the  Jews  spake  against  it.  We  do  not  find  any  such 
specific  item  as  this  in  Luke's  report  of  the  trial  before  Festus,  but  it 
is  obvious  that,  in  general,  Paul's  appeal  to  Caesar  was  due  to  the 
hostility  of  the  Jews,  and  that  is  the  substance  of  the  present  state- 
ment. 

20.  For  this  cause  therefore.  These  words  look  back  on  the 
defence  which  he  has  just  made.  To  see  and  to  speak  with  me. 
According  to  his  practice,  he  would  have  gone  into  their  synagogue 
had  he  been  at  liberty.  But  being  a  prisoner,  he  had  entreated  them 
to  come  to  him.  Because  of  the  hope  of  Israel,  etc.  See  notes  on 
23  :  6;    26  :  6. 

21.  We  neither  received  letters.  This  verse  does  not  disclaim  any 
knowledge  of  Paul  whatsoever,  but  only  knowledge  of  those  events 
of  which  Paul  had  just  spoken.  It  is  scarcely  credible  that  with 
the  annual  visit  of  Roman  Jews  in  Jerusalem  Paul's  name  had  not 
become  known  to  them,  especially  during  the  past  ten  years. 

22.  We  desire  to  hear  of  thee  what  thou  thinkest.  Had  Paul  been 
to  them  only  a  stranger,  of  whom  they  had  heard  nothing  until  three 
days  before,  we  can  hardly  suppose  that  they  would  have  had  a 
particular  desire  to  know  his  opinion  of  Christianity.  These  words 
therefore  indicate  that  they  had  heard  of  him  and  knew  that  he  was 
a  leader  of  the  new  faith.  Everywhere  it  is  spoken  against.  That 
was  true  of  the  Jews  who  rejected  the  Gospel.  Wherever  it  was  pre- 
sented by  Paul,  it  aroused  the  active  opposition  of  the  synagogue. 
The  Jews  of  this  verse  took  a  neutral  position,  perhaps  because  they 
had  learned  to  be  cautious  regarding  Christianity  since  their  ex- 
pulsion by  Claudius, 

23.  Had  appointed  him  a  day.     Or,  *  agreed  with  him  on  a  day,' 

25s 


ACTS 

came  to  him  into  °his  lodging  °in  great  number;  to 
whom  he  expounded  the  matter,  testifying  the  kingdom 
of  God,  and  ^persuading  them  °concerning  Jesus,  both 
from  the  law  of  Moses  and  from  the  prophets,  °from 

24.  morning  till  evening.     And  °some  believed  the  things 

25.  which  were  spoken,  and  some  disbelieved.  And  when 
they  °agreed  not  among  themselves,  they  departed, 
after  that  Paul  had  spoken  one  word,  °Well  spake  the 
Holy  Ghost  °by  Isaiah  the  prophet  unto  your  fathers, 

26.  saying, 

the  arrangement  being  mutual.  His  lodging.  This  may  not  have 
been  the  same  as  *  his  own  hired  dwelling  '  in  vs.  30.  It  may  have 
been  a  room  placed  at  his  disposal  in  the  house  of  some  friend.  The 
Greek  word  rather  favors  this  view  (see  the  use  of  the  kindred  verb  in 
21  :  16),  but  there  is  no  decisive  evidence  that  it  is  not  used  here  of  the 
same  quarters  that  are  mentioned  in  vs.  30.  In  great  number.  Or, 
comparatively,  '  in  greater  numbers,'  that  is,  greater  numbers  than  on 
the  first  occasion.  Persuading  them.  This  word  characterizes  his 
method  rather  than  its  results.  Some  were  indeed  persuaded,  but 
he  spoke  persuasively  to  all.  Concerning  Jesus.  That  is,  that  he  was 
the  hope  of  Israel,  the  Messiah.  From  morning  till  evening.  To 
go  through  the  Law  and  the  Prophets,  discussing  what  were  then 
supposed  to  be  Messianic  passages,  and  studying  them  in  relation  to 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  required  a  long  time. 

24.  Some  believed.  Or,  better,  as  in  17  :  4  where  the  same  word 
is  used,  *  some  were  persuaded.'  It  is  not  the  word  commonly  em- 
ployed by  Luke  to  denote  believing  in  the  Gospel.  Yet  there  seems 
to  be  no  sufficient  reason  for  thinking  that  these  who  were '  persuaded  * 
by  Paul  did  not  become  true  disciples. 

25.  Agreed  not  among  themselves.  They  were  divided  into  two 
companies  by  Paul's  discourse,  and  seem  to  have  continued  the  dis- 
cussion among  themselves,  each  party  seeking  to  persuade  the  other. 
Well  spake.  Paul  does  not  indeed  say  that  what  was  spoken  of  old 
to  tlie  fathers  was  applicable  to  his  own  hearers,  but  this  is  obviously 
the  reason  for  making  the  quotation,  and  the  word  '  well '  expresses 
his  feeling  that  the  ancient  words  are  peculiarly  suitable  in  the  pres- 
ent circumstances.  Comp.  Matt.  15  :  7.  By  Isaiah.  The  passage 
is  from  Is.  6  :  9, 10,  and  is  quoted  closely  according  to  the  Septuagint. 
By  so  doing  the  thought  of  a  fulfilment  of  judgment  through  the 
prophet  is  somewhat  weakened. 

26.  By  hearing  ye  shall  hear.    This  English,  like  the  Septuagint 

256 


ACTS  28:30 

Go  thou  unto  this  people,  and  say,  is.  6: 9, 10. 

°By  hearing  ye  shall  hear,  and  shall  in  no  wise 
understand ; 

And  seeing  ye  shall  see,  and  shall  in  no  wise  per- 
ceive : 

27.  For  this  people's  °heart  is  waxed  gross, 
And  their  ears  are  dull  of  hearing. 
And  their  eyes  they  have  closed; 

Lest  haply  they  should  perceive  with  their  eyes, 

And  hear  with  their  ears. 

And  understand  with  their  heart, 

And  should  turn  again. 

And  I  should  heal  them. 

28.  Be  it  known  °therefore  unto  you,  that  this  salvation  of 
God  is  sent  unto  the  Gentiles  :    °they  will  also  hear. 

30.       And  he  abode  °two  whole  years  in  his  own  hired 
dwelling,   and  ^received  all  that  went  in  unto  him, 


which  it  translates,  is  obscure.    The  sense  of  the  Hebrew  original  is 
that  the  people  should  hear  indeed  or  surely. 

27.  Heart  is  waxed  gross.  In  the  original  this  is  a  command  to  the 
prophet,  as  also  the  two  following  lines,  which  fact  makes  more  intel- 
ligible the  words  '  lest  haply  '  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  line  of  the 
verse. 

28.  Therefore.  That  is,  because  they  rejected  the  Gospel.  On 
the  principle,  comp.  13  :  47;  18  :  6.  They  will  also  hear.  The  Gospel 
had  been  sent  by  Paul  to  the  Jews  whom  he  was  addressing.  Now 
he  declares  that  it  is  sent  to  the  Gentiles,  and  that  they  will  also  hear. 
That  is  to  say,  in  their  case  it  is  not  only  sent  but  also  heard,  spiritually 
obeyed.  The  clause  is  hopeful,  and  Paul's  experience  among  the 
Gentiles  amply  justified  this  hope. 

30,  Two  whole  years.  This  is  evidently  a  definite  statement  of 
time,  like  that  of  24  :  27.  Comp.  20  :  31.  If,  then,  Paul  reached  Rome 
in  February,  his  imprisonment  terminated  in  February.  The  letters 
written  during  this  imprisonment  (Philippians,  Colossians,  Ephesians, 
and  Philemon)  indirectly  support  Luke's  statement  of  its  duration 
(e.g.,  Phil.  2  :  25-28;  4 :  10-18).  Received  all  that  went  in  unto 
him.     His    evangelistic   activity  was   confined  to   his   own   room, 

s  257 


ACTS 

31.  preaching  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  teaching  the  things 
concerning  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  °with  all  boldness, 
°none  forbidding  him. 

yet,  as  his  letters  written  at  this  time  show,  it  was  extensive  and 
fruitful. 

31.  With  all  boldness.  This  is  the  very  language  that  Paul  him- 
self uses  in  a  letter  of  the  Roman  imprisonment  (Phil,  i  :  20;  comp. 
Eph.  6  :  19).  The  boldness  shone  the  more  brightly  because  he  was 
confined  as  a  prisoner  and  because  his  life  was  in  peril.  None  for- 
bidding him.  Or,  simply,  *  unhindered.'  This  is  the  final  view 
which  Luke  gives  us,  —  Paul  in  Rome  preaching  with  all  boldness, 
unhindered.  The  purpose  of  19:21  was  fulfilled.  Even  if  Paul  had 
not  come  to  Rome  '  in  joy,'  he  had  certainly  come  '  through  the 
will  of  God'  (Rom.  15  :  32),  and  during  those  two  years,  with  a  glance 
over  which  Acts  concludes,  he  was  having  *  fruit '  in  Rome,  as  he  had 
long  since  desired  (Rom.  i  :  13).  The  close  of  the  book  would  be 
abrupt  and  unsatisfactory  had  the  author's  aim  been  to  write  a  bi- 
ography of  Paul,  but  it  was  not.  He  was  concerned  with  the  trium- 
phant expansion  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  therefore  might  ap- 
propriately conclude  his  volume  with  the  ajwstle's  unhindered  and 
fruitful  labor  in  the  metropolis  of  the  world. 


258 


APPENDIX 


Note  I.     The'  Holy  Spirit '  in  Acts 

This  name  occurs  forty  or  forty-one  times  in  Acts  according  to  the 
R.V.,  and  is  always  translated  in  the  same  way  —  *  Holy  Ghost '  in 
the  text,  '  Holy  Spirit '  in  the  margin.  In  the  original  Greek,  however, 
there  is  a  significant  difference  in  the  form  in  different  places.  In 
seventeen  instances  the  article  is  not  used;  in  the  remaining  cases  it 
is  used.  When  one  reads  these  two  classes  of  passages  continuously, 
one  can  be  in  no  doubt  that  the  author  was  conscious  of  a  distinction 
between  the  forms.  When  he  speaks  of  a  spiritual  baptism  or  anointing 
and  (probably)  in  every  case  when  he  speaks  of  being  filled  with  the 
Spirit,  he  uses  the  form  without  the  article,  but  whenever  he  as- 
sociates the  Spirit  with  personal  activities,  he  employs  the  other  form. 
An  instructive  passage  for  determining  the  author's  distinction  be- 
tween the  two  forms  is  2  :  4.  Here  we  read,  "  they  were  all  filled  with 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  began  to  speak  with  other  tongues,  as  the  Spirit 
gave  them  utterance."  In  the  latter  case  he  used  the  article,  in  the 
former  not.  We  should  probably  give  the  author's  thought  in  this 
verse  more  accurately,  were  we  to  write  it  as  follows :  "  they  were  all 
filled  with  (a)  holy  spirit,  and  began  to  speak  with  other  tongues,  as 
the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance."  By  *  holy  spirit '  was  meant  a 
spirit  of  enthusiasm  and  power  (see  6:5,  8).  Thus  the  author, 
when  thinking  of  the  human  effect  of  God's  spiritual  presence  and 
activity,  wrote  *  holy  spirit,'  and  when  thinking  of  the  ultimate  cause, 
he  wrote  *  the  Holy  Spirit.'  This  very  broad  difference  between  the 
Greek  forms  is  wholly  lost  in  our  translation.  What  we  read  is  not 
what  Luke  wrote. 


Note  2.   Speaking  with  *  tongues^  and  with  ^ other  tongues^ 

It  seems  probable  that  the  author  of  Acts  thought  of  speaking  with 
'  tongues '  and  speaking  with  *  other  tongues '  as  distinct  phenomena. 
For  he  regarded  the  speaking  with  *  other  tongues '  as  a  speaking  in 
foreign  languages  (vss.  6-8),  while  in  the  two  instances  where  he  men- 
tions speaking  with  *  tongues'  (10  :  46;  19  :  6),  he  does  not  indicate 
that  he  thought  of  it  in  this  manner.  But  is  there  sufficient  evidence 
to  justify  this  distinction?  There  is  (i)  Luke's  habit  of  investigating 
with  care  the  subjects  on  which  he  wrote  ;  (2)  his  probable  acquaint- 
ance in  Caesarea  or  Jerusalem  with  some  who,  if  they  were  not  present 
at  Pentecost  themselves,  had  heard  of  it  from  those  who  were  present ; 

259 


NOTES 


and  (3)  the  fitness  of  a  miraculous  indication  of  the  universal  destiny 
of  the  new  religion. 

These  considerations,  however,  do  not  appear  to  be  adequate  support 
of  the  distinction  in  view  of  the  following  facts:  (i)  In  the  account  of 
Pentecost  there  are  points  not  harmonizable  with  the  view  that  the 
actual  phenomenon  was  a  speaking  in  foreign  languages.  Thus  it  is 
said  that  some  hearers  thought  the  disciples  were  full  of  new  wine 
(vs.  13),  but  that  impression  would  not  have  been  made  by  a  speaking 
in  a  foreign  language.  It  is,  however,  akin  to  the  impression  which 
Paul  said  was  likely  to  be  made  by  speaking  with  '  tongues '  (i  Cor. 
14 :  23).  Again,  when  Peter  defended  his  brethren,  he  said  plainly 
that  the  phenomenon  which  had  caused  amazement  and  mocking 
was  the  fulfilment  of  Joel's  words,  but  Joel  said  nothing  about  speak- 
ing in  foreign  languages.  (2)  Not  only  does  the  narrative  of  Luke 
contain  indications  that  the  actual  historical  event  was  simply  speak- 
ing with  '  tongues,'  that  is,  ecstatic  speech,  but  a  miraculous  speaking 
in  foreign  languages  was  not  called  for  or  justified  by  the  situation. 
The  people  on  the  ground  were  Jews,  speaking  a  common  language, 
and  if  it  was  necessary  to  teach  them  that  the  Gospel  was  for  all  nations 
it  could  have  been  done  in  words  of  their  own  Scriptures.  It  is  notice- 
able, however,  that  Peter  in  his  speech  said  nothing  of  the  universal 
destination  of  the  Gospel.  Again,  according  to  the  narrative  itself, 
the  miracle  of  speaking  in  foreign  languages  served  no  great  end. 
The  multitude  were  brought  together  by  the  sound  of  the  voices  of  the 
disciples,  but  they  were  converted  by  Peter's  Aramaic  sermon.  (3) 
We  know  of  a  phenomenon  in  the  early  church  called  speaking  with 
'  tongues,'  which  was  regarded  as  manifesting  the  presence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  (10:46;  19:6;  I  Cor.  12:  10).  Of  this  we  are  definitely 
informed  that  it  was  not  speaking  in  foreign  languages  (i  Cor.  14.) 
Now  it  is  easier  to  suppose  that  the  speaking  at  Pentecost  was  speaking 
with  '  tongues,'  and  so  the  same  phenomenon  that  we  meet  at  Caesarea, 
at  Ephesus,  and  at  Corinth,  than  to  suppose  that  there  were  two 
totally  different  phenomena  of  speech. 

Add  to  these  considerations  that  of  the  ease  with  which  the  story  of 
speaking  with  '  other  tongues '  might  have  been  developed  out  of 
the  speaking  with  '  tongues  '  and  the  manifest  symbolical  purpose  in 
such  a  development,  and  then  the  case  against  the  uniqueness  of  the 
Pentecostal  phenomenon  of  speaking  with  tongues  should  not  be  con- 
sidered doubtful. 


Note  3.    The  Community  of  Goods  at  Jerusalem 

Of  the  so-called  '  communism  '  among  the  disciples  at  Jerusalem, 
in  addition  to  the  passage  2  :  44-45,  further  traces  are  found  in  4  :  32; 
4  •  36-37;  and  5  :  3-4.     It  appears  (i)  that  it  was  wholly  voluntary, 

260 


NOTES 


and  (2)  that  it  was  only  partial,  for  individuals  continued  to  hold  prop- 
erty (see,  e.g.,  12  :  12).  An  external  occasion  for  it  existed  in  the  fact 
that  a  number  of  Christian  disciples,  perhaps  most  of  the  one  hundred 
and  twenty  (i  :  15),  perhaps  also  some  of  the  Hellenists  from  afar, 
were  temporarily  in  Jerusalem,  separated  from  their  customary  em- 
ployments and  from  their  homes.  How  long  it  continued  we  do  not 
know,  but  we  hear  nothing  about  it  beyond  the  sixth  chapter  of  Acts. 
We  are  not  justified  in  saying  that  the  poverty  of  saints  in  Jerusalem 
in  subsequent  times  (see  Rom.  15  :  26)  resulted  from  this  early  *  com- 
munism.' Poor  people  in  a  great  city,  especially  in  a  great  Oriental 
.city,  are  surely  no  uncommon  phenomenon. 


Note  4.   Stephen's  Speech 

The  speech  of  Stephen  is  an  arraignment  of  the  Jews  rather  than  an 
apology  for  himself.  It  is  an  arraignment  not  of  his  audience  merely, 
but  of  preceding  generations,  even  back  to  the  early  history  of  the 
nation.  Its  fundamental  charge  is  most  clearly  uttered  in  vs.  51. 
There  has  been,  he  says,  an  age-long  opposition  to  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  of  that  opposition  his  hearers  are  guilty. 

The  speech  not  only  traces  this  opposition,  but  also  enumerates 
certain  great  historical  facts  which  bring  it  out  by  contrast,  —  facts  that 
should  have  been  allowed  to  guard  men  from  it,  and  which,  being  neg- 
lected, heighten  their  guilt.  Of  these  facts  the  chief  are :  (a)  Abraham, 
who  was  spiritually-minded,  to  whom  God  spoke  on  heathen  ground, 
and  with  whom  he  made  a  covenant;  (b)  God's  favor  to  Joseph  in 
Egypt ;  (c)  his  revelation  to  Moses  in  Midian  and  the  high  honor 
he  gave  him  throughout  the  wilderness  period;  and  (d)  such  teaching 
of  the  prophets  as  that  of  Is.  66  :  1-2,  that  God  dwells  not  in  temples 
made  by  men's  hands.  The  course  of  Israelitish  opposition  to  the 
Spirit  is  seen  :  (i)  in  the  hostility  of  his  brothers  toward  Joseph; 
(2)  in  the  rejection  of  Moses  by  a  Hebrew  whom  he  wished  to  reconcile 
with  his  brother;  (3)  in  the  lack  of  obedience  to  the  Law  given  through 
Moses;  (4)  in  the  long  idolatry  of  the  Israelites;  and  (5)  in  the  un- 
spiritual  conception  of  tabernacle  and  temple  (implied  in  vss.  47-48). 


Note  5.    The  Relation  of  Acts  9:  19-25  to  Gal.  i :  16-18. 

Paul  writes  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians  that,  when  God  revealed 
his  Son  in  him,  straightway,  without  conferring  with  flesh  and  blood, 
he  went  into  Arabia,  and  thence  returned  to  Damascus,  then  after 
three  years  went  up  to  Jerusalem.  Of  this  Arabian  sojourn  our 
narrative  not  only  betrays  no  knowledge,  but  seems  indeed  to  have  no 

261 


NOTES 


room  for  it.  For  (i)  it  appears  to  imply  that  Paul  did  'confer* 
with  flesh  and  blood,  i.e.,  have  Christian  intercourse  with  fellow- 
believers,  from  whom  he  probably  learned  much  regarding  Jesus ; 
(2)  it  seems  to  put  Paul's  preaching  in  Damascus  immediately  after 
his  baptism,  while  according  to  Galatians  and  First  Corinthians  it 
followed  the  Arabian  sojourn;  and  (3)  it  implies  that  his  return  to 
Jerusalem  was  not  very  long  after  his  conversion,  for  the  disciples 
there  had  not  yet  heard  what  had  befallen  him  or  how  he  had  preached 
in  Damascus  (vss.  26-27). 

Perhaps  the  simplest  view  to  take  of  the  matter  is  to  suppose  that 
Luke  was  not  acquainted  with  Paul's  sojourn  in  Arabia,  and,  for  that 
reason,  set  some  details  of  his  story  in  a  wrong  perspective.  It  must 
not,  however,  be  overlooked  that  the  Epistles  confirm  the  historical 
character  of  the  main  points  in  the  Acts  narrative.  Thus  2  Cor. 
II  :  32-33  implies  just  such  a  successful  activity  of  Paul  in  Damascus 
as  Acts  9  :  20-22  records.  It  agrees  with  Luke  also  in  its  account  of 
Paul's  escape  from  Damascus,  though  not  mentioning  that  it  was 
made  possible  by  the  disciples  of  Paul.  Further,  the  story  in  Gala- 
tians takes  Paul  from  Damascus  directly  to  Jerusalem,  as  is  recorded 
also  in  Acts. 


36a 


INDEX 


Abraham,  his  inheritance  in  Canaan, 
78. 

Achaia,  172,  178. 

Acts,  the  book  in  itself,  1-6;  author 
and  date  of  composition,  6-14; 
historical  value  of,  14-20;  text  of, 
20-21;  literature,  21;  title,  i,  23; 
relation  to  Galatians,  261-262. 

Adramyttium,  241. 

Adria,  sea  of,  247. 

iEneas,  107. 

Agabus,  124,  199. 

Agrippa,  see  Herod. 

Alexander  (of  Ephesus?),  185. 

Alexandria,  242,  252. 

Amphipolis,  113. 

Ananias,  high  priest,  213,  220. 

Ananias  of  Damascus,  101-102, 
208-209. 

Ananias  of  Jerusalem,  64,  65. 

Angels,  27,  69,  83,  84,  87,  96,  129- 
130,  246. 

Annas,  56. 

Antioch  (Pisidian),  134,  141,  144. 

Antioch  (Syrian),  121,  131,  146. 

Antipatris,  219. 

Apollonia,  163. 

Apollos,  177,  179. 

Apostles,  names  of,  28-29;  teach- 
ing of,  46-47;  acting  as  a  body, 
73,  74,  93;  name  given  to  Paul 
and  Barnabas,  142. 

Apostolic  age,  chronology  of,  21-22. 

Aquila,  172,  175. 

Arabia,  105. 

Aratus,  170. 

Areopagus,  168. 

Aristarchus,  184,  185,  241. 

Ascension,  24,  27. 


Asia,  157,  180,  189,  192,  203. 
Asiarch,  185. 
Assassins,  205-206. 
Assos,  191. 
Athens,  167. 
Attalia,  146. 
Augustan  band,  241. 
Azotus,  98. 

Babylon,  85. 

Baptism,  45,  46,  93,  94,  98,  118,  173, 

178,  179,  180. 
Bar- Jesus,  see  Elymas. 
Barnabas,   64,   122,   124,   131,   132, 

147.  153.  154,  155- 
Baucis,  143. 
Bernice,  230. 
Beroea,  166. 
Bishops,  194-195. 
Bithynia,  157. 

Bread,  breaking  of,  47,  190. 
Brethren,  30,  47,  178. 
Brothers  of  Jesus,  29. 

Caesarea,  99, 106, 109, 176, 198,  217. 

Caiaphas,  207. 

Candace,  97. 

Captain  of  the  temple,  55. 

Cauda,  244. 

Cenchreae,  175. 

Chios,  192. 

Christians,  name,  123-124,  241. 

Church,  67,  84,  125,  131,  152,  195. 

Cilicia,  152,  155. 

Cilicians,  105. 

Claudius,  92, 124, 141,  172,  254. 

Clean  thes,  170. 

Cnidus,  242. 


263 


INDEX 


Codex  D,  21,  91,  100,  123,  127,  151, 
162-163,  178,  181,  189,  191,  200. 

Colossae,  181. 

Community  of  goods,  47-48,  260- 
261. 

Corinth,  172. 

Cornelius,  109,  no,  11 4-1 15. 

Cos,  197. 

Crete,  242. 

Crispus,  173. 

Cuspius  Fadus,  72. 

Cyprus,  64,  99,  121,  132,  15s,  197, 
243. 

Cyrene,  121,  122. 

Damascus,  85,  99. 

David,  43. 

Demetrius,  184. 

Demoniacs,  91-92,  160. 

Derbe,  142,  145.  i55- 

Diana,  179,  183,  184,  186. 

Diary,  7-9,  12,  158,  189,  241. 

Dionysius,  171-172. 

Disciples,  the  name,  73 ;  number  of, 

30,  46,  56,  68,  201. 
Dispersion,  Jews  of  the,  35,  37,  46, 

76. 
Dium,  166. 

Door,  the  Beautiful,  49. 
Dorcas,  see  Tabitha. 
DrusiUa,  225. 

Elders,  Jewish,  56;   Christian,  124, 

145-146,  148. 
Elymas,  133. 
Ephesus,  179,  192. 
Epicurus,  167-168. 
Erastus,  183. 
Ethiopia,  96. 
Euraquilo,  244. 
Eutychus,  1 90-1 91. 

Fair  Havens,  242-243. 

Fast,  the,  243. 

Felix,  218,  220,  221,  222,  225,  226. 

Festus,  226,  228,  238-239. 


Gains,  145;  of  Alexandria  (?),  184- 

185. 
Galatia,  156-157,  177,  179. 
Galileans,  36. 
Galilee,  106,  116,  137. 
Gallio,  174-175- 
Gamaliel,  71. 
Gaza,  96. 
Gitta,  92. 
Graux,  i. 

Grecian  Jews,  see  Hellenists. 
Greece,  188. 

Hands,  laying  on  of,  75. 

Haran,  78. 

Hellenists,  73,  74,  105,  122. 

Herod,  the  Great,  61 ;  H.  Agrippa  I, 
125;  H.  Agrippa  II,  230,  233, 
239-240;  H.  the  tetrarch  (Anti- 
pas),  131. 

Horeb,  79,  82-83. 

Iconium,  141,  155. 

James,  125,  128,  150,  201. 

Jason,  165. 

Jehovah,  New  Testament  rendering 
of,  40. 

Jerusalem,  3,  25,  27,  99. 

Jesus,  "in  the  name  of,"  49-50,  59; 
"servant,"  51;  "prince  of  life," 
51;  "Saviour, "  136;  anointed, 
61,  116. 

Jews  of  the  Dispersion,  see  Disper- 
sion. 

John,  the  apostle,  48-49,  55,  58. 

John  the  Baptist,  25,  32,  136-137. 

John  Mark,  132,  134,  155. 

Joppa,  107. 

Joseph  Barsabbas,  32. 

Judas,  the  apostle,  30,  31,  33. 

Judas  of  Galilee,   72. 

Judas  of  Jerusalem,   152. 

Judea,  27,  106,  1 1 5-1 1 6,  237. 

Julius,  241,  249. 

Jupiter,  143- 


264 


INDEX 


Lasea,  243. 

Law,  given  by  angels,  87. 

Levites,  64. 

Libertines,  76. 

Lord,  use  of  name,  33. 

Lots,  33. 

Lucius,  131. 

Luke,  6-14,  158. 

Lycaonia,  143. 

Lydda,  106. 

Lydia,  159. 

Lysias,  218,  225. 

Lystra,  142,  143,  155. 

Macedonia,  187. 

Manaen,  131. 

Market  of  Appius,  253. 

Mary,  mother  of  Jesus,  29. 

Mary,  mother  of  Mark,  28. 

Matthias,  32. 

Melita,  250. 

Mercury,  143. 

Memeptah  II,  81. 

Mesopotamia,  78. 

Mighty  works,  37,  40-41,  48,  62, 

Miletus,  192. 

Mitylene,  192. 

Mnason,  200-201. 

Moloch,  85. 

Moses,  Stephen's  references  to, 

84. 
M3rra,  242. 
Mysia,  157. 

Nazarenes,  221,  222. 
Nazareth  —  Nazarene,  40,  208. 
Neapolis,  158,  190. 
Nicolas,  74. 

Old  Testament,  use  of  in  Acts, 
39,  41-42,  44,  52.  53,  57-58, 
87,  97,  150-151. 

Olivet,  28. 

Paphos,  132. 
Patara,  197. 


Paul,  133;  in  Pisidian  Antioch,  134- 
141;  in  Iconium,  141-142;  in 
Lystra  and  Derbe,  142-145;  sent 
to  Jerusalem,  147;  proposed 
second  missionary  tour,  154; 
separated  from  Barnabas,  154- 
155;  in  Syria  and  Cilicia,  155- 
156;  seeks  new  fields,  156-158;  in 
Philippi,  158-163;  in  Thessa- 
lonica,  163-165;  in  Beroea,  166; 
in  Athens,  167-172;  in  Corinth, 
172-175;  journey  to  Antioch,  175- 
177;  through  the  upper  country, 
177,  179;  in  Ephesus,  179-187; 
in  Europe,  187-188;  jovirney  to 
Jerusalem,  189-200;  in  Jerusa- 
lem, 201 ;  preaching  in  Judea, 
237-238;  voyage  to  Rome,  241— 
253;  in  Rome,  254-258.  See 
Saul. 

Pentecost,  the  day  of,  34. 

Perga,  134,  146. 

Peter,  place  of  his  name,  28;  leader- 
ship of,  29-30;  speech  at  Pente- 
76.  cost,  38-46;  healed  a  lame  man, 
49-50;  speech  in  Solomon's 
Porch,  51-55;  before  the  sanhe- 
drin,  57-59;  rebukes  Ananias 
and  Sapphira,  64-67;  again 
81-  before  the  sanhedrin,  70-71 ;  sent 
to  Samaria,  93-95,  in  Lydda  and 
Joppa,  1 06-1 12;  in  Caesarea, 
113-118;  his  defence  in  Jerusa- 
lem, 1 1 9-1 21;  at  the  conference 
in  Jerusalem,  149. 

Pharisees,  68,  71. 

Philemon,  143. 

Philip,  74,  199. 

Philippi,  158,  190. 
38-    Phoenicia,  99,  121,  148. 
77-    Phoenix,  244. 

Phrygia,  156-157,^177.  i79- 

Pilate,  61. 

Pisidia,  146. 

Politarchs,  165. 

Pompey,  73. 
265 


INDEX 


Pontus,  157. 
Power,  26,  63. 
Prayer,  hour  of,  49. 
Prayer  to  Jesus,  33. 
Priests,  55,  75. 

Priests,  high,  55,  56,  68,  loa. 
Priscilla,  172,  175. 
Proconsuls,  186-187. 
Prophet,  narrower  sense  of  the  word, 
124;    broader  sense  of  the  word, 

Proselytes,  37,  141,  164,  166. 
Ptolemais,  198. 
Publius,  251. 
Puteoli,  253. 

Raising  up  of  Jesus,  54-55.  7o- 

Ramses-Sesostris,  81. 

Restoration,  53. 

Resurrection  of  Jesus,  41,  43;  the 
term  misunderstood  in  Athens, 
168;  the  doctrine  rejected  by  the 
Athenians,  1 70-1 71. 

Rhegium,  253. 

Rhoda,  127-128. 

Rhodes,  197. 

Roman  citizenship,  163,  21a. 

Rome,  183,  253. 

Rulers,  56. 

Sadducees,  55,  68,  214. 

Saints,  102. 

Salamis,  132. 

Salmone,  243. 

Samaria,  27,  106,  148. 

Samaria,  city  of,  91,  93. 

Samos,  192. 

Samothrace,  158. 

Samuel,  54. 

Sanhedrin,  56,  69,  70. 

Sapphira,  64,  67. 

Saturn,  85. 

Saul,  76,  88,  89;  conversion,  99-103, 
207-209,  233-238;  disciples  of,  in 
Damascus,  104;  sought  by  Barna- 
bas, 1 23 ;  worked  at  Antioch,  123 


266 


sent  to   Jerusalem,   124-125;  set 

apart,    1 31-132;    Saul-Paul,   see 

Paul. 
Sceva,  181. 
Scribes,  56, 
Seleucia,  132. 
Sergius  Paul  us,  133. 
Seven,  the,  74,  75,  199. 
Sharon,  107. 
Shrines,  183,  184. 
Sidon,  129,  241. 
Signs,  see  Mighty  works. 
Silas,  152,  155,  158,  166. 
Simon  of  Gitta,  92-95. 
Simon  of  Joppa,  109. 
Sinai,  82-83. 
Solomon's  Porch,  50,  67. 
Son  of  God,  103. 
Son  of  Man,  88. 
Sosthenes,  175. 
Spirit,  the  Holy,  24,  26,  35,  39,  62, 

1 1 7-1 18,  179,  259. 
Stephen,  74,  76,  77;  his  defence,  77- 

87,  261 ;   martyrdom,  87-90. 
Stoics,  168. 

Supper,  the  Lord's,  47. 
Sychar,  91,  92. 
Symeon,  see  Peter. 
Synagogues  in   Jerusalem,   76;    in 

Damascvis,  99. 
Syracuse,  252. 
Syria,  152,  155,  175. 
Syrtis,  245. 

Tabitha,  107-108. 
Tarsus,  106,  206. 
Teachers,  131. 
Terah,  78. 
Tertullus,  220,  221. 
Theophilus,  23. 
Thessalonica,  164. 
Theudas,  71-72. 
Three  Taverns,  253. 
Timothy,  145.  i55.  158,  166,  183. 
Tongues    of    fire,    34-3 S*.     "other 
tongues,"  35,  259. 


INDEX 


Town  clerk,  i86. 
Troas,  157,  190. 
Trogyllium,  192. 
Trophimus,  204. 
Twin  Brothers,  The,  252. 
Tyrannus,  180. 
Tyre,  129,  197,  198. 


Unknown  God,  169. 

Way,  the,  99. 

Witness  to  Jesus,  26-27,  32,  63,  117. 

Wonders,  see  Mighty  works. 

Zeno.  168. 


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